


Old Habits

by Strangerthanearth



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Camp Camp - Freeform, Child Abuse, David/Gwen - Freeform, High School AU, MomGwen, Neglect, Set 4 years later, Shippy later on, Teenage AU, dadvid, gwenvid - Freeform, will be expilcit later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2018-12-20 08:00:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11916618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strangerthanearth/pseuds/Strangerthanearth
Summary: It's been four more years of the usual campers antics at Camp Campbell and they're all back for another summer.Only this time, Max hasn't shown up and is no where to be heard from.David and the others are concerned, and from what they find out is going on behind closed doors,  maybe it wasn't Max's decision not to return to camp this year.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter song: Mr. Redundant - Rainbow Kitten Suprise

Some rules are old habits that people are afraid to change. So much could be said for the rules surrounding a certain summer camp going by the name of Camp Campbell. Rules such as saluting the camp flag and always having a camp mascot among others, were key to every successful camps running. Rules that were followed so strictly from the camps opening but over the years, the "rules" broke down and thus were only usually loosely and passively enforced by David Green, a councilor and former camper.

While a certain jaded and cynical boy by the name of Maxwell Bhandari liked to debunk these hollow habits and cause havoc in the camp, and had been doing so for the past seven years. Max gained satisfaction from swearing and encouraging his fellow campers to create anarchy.

But for some reason this year had not been one of those years, due to Max's absence.

At first, David and his co-councilor, Gwen had been surprised by the first day of camp and hadn't received a letter or phone call saying Max would be on his way. In fact usually he'd arrive a day early in a shiny BMW with the windows blacked out, that'd drive off a second after Max stepped out of the car. Though the two were concerned, they figured the Max had been delayed and suspected the curly-headed teenager would show up again at some point in the first days of the summer.

But days went past and weeks went by and there was still no sign of the boy. And it was safe to say while things were going more smoothly during activities, the group couldn't help but feel there was an aura missing with Max.

"Good morning campers! How'd we all sleep?" David cheered to the group gathered in the mess hall. An audible groan was made from all the campers, all too tired for David's happy demeanor.

"Hey David, any sign of Max?" Neil asked, concerned about his friend he'd known for years.

David frowned slightly, remembering for a moment about Max, before sighing.

"I'm afraid not, Neil. I'm sorry I know you and Nikki are very good friends with him. Maybe he's just busy this summer". The ginger man tried to reassure the two teenagers.

The two had changed considerably over the years, as did the others. Neil had grown considerably to nearly David's height in just over two summers, still remaining thin and lanky. He changed his haircut to tighter cut sides and longer curls on top. The teens voice had deepened and became less nasally, although he still kept his cautious manner. Nikki on the other hand had become even more outgoing and loud. Her pigtails were replaced for a singular dutch braid and a septum piercing worn on the girls nose.

The two friends had become increasingly worried as the weeks went by,  about their good friend. Sure, Max hated the camp. That was no surprise, but he had been there a day early, every summer, since he was seven years old. He knew the ins and outs of the place, and as shitty as the camp was, Max would never miss out on a summer to screw with David's head and drive him insane with his antics. 

It wasn't like Max at all. 

Maybe it wasn't _his_  decision at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Berlin - RY X
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> Edit: a reader commented that a section repeated, I've gone back and realised the chapter was a bit of a mess so its all fixed now! sorry for any inconvenience! X

Thursday was the second last day of camp. The next morning the group would wake up and lazily bring themselves to the mess hall for breakfast. They'd return to their tents, pack their belongings and wait for their parents to collect them and bring them back to the city. 

"Okay campers! Today will be the last day of activities, so Gwen and I have prepared a special day for all of you!" David exclaimed excitedly, while flailing his arms around in determination.

Gwen stood next to the tall red head. Bags plastered her eyes and her framed hunched over. She was glad camp would be over in the next few days and she could return to the city and sleep off the stress of the past three months. The tired woman pinched the bridge of her nose as her co-councilor rambled on loudly. 

"Tell them what were doing today Gwen!" David cheered, elbowing her in the side with his boney arms. Gwen hissed at him.

Gwen sighed and heaved out "Today we'll be going on a nature hike and later on when we get back, were going to have a bonfire". The concept of having a bonfire didn't excite the group, as David had planned the same activity every end of camp day for the past four consecutive summers. The campers all sighed in unison as David exclaimed "Doesn't that sound great!"

The group dispersed back to their tents to collect their backpacks and other items they might have needed for the hike. David stared off at them. His obnoxious grin had faded into a frown and his brows furrowed as he looked down to the ground, deep in thought.  
The thought of Max popped into his head. The redheaded man couldn't get his head around why Max hadn't turned up this summer, or even why he hadn't phoned to say he wasn't going. It hurt David, because even though the two had a complicated friendship, and Max would continuously remind the councilor that he hated him, David felt they had grown a strong bond whilst put into the stressful and tough situation. Max hated camp, that was a fact. He hated the nature, he hated the outdoors, the bugs, the animals, the lack of WiFi and functional indoor plumbing. But David felt the boy had grown accustomed to the old worn down place after all those years.

But then why hadn't he returned this summer?

David felt a sharp pinch in his side and he let out a high pitched yelp, wheeling around. Gwen was standing in front of him, scowling, with her arms crossed.

"I called your name like 5 times, idiot". The tall girl crossed her arms around her chest.

"O-oh gosh, i'm sorry Gwen. I was just thinking... about Max"

Gwen sighed, her brows furrowing together. "I know you're worried. I know you thought he'd have shown up by now, but David, he's like what, fourteen now. He probably just grew up. Decided the camp really wasn't for him anymore. It's okay....maybe he'll show up next year."

David wiped his eyes, trying to play off like he hadn't teared up at the thought of Max being too old to return to camp. David new he could be a nuisance, and a pain, but if he was honest, he missed the kid. 

The councilor looked back at the rag tag group of teenagers.  
Nurf was dangling space kid's backpack above his head, laughing at him and he tried to jump to grab it. Ered was busy strapping her skate board on to the back of her backpack, mumbling something about how "awesome" it'll be when she skates down the other side of the mountain the group were hiking up. Neil was swatting a bug away from him as Nikki rambled on about how she loved hiking, loudly announcing "Smell that nature, Neil".  
The group were all still their same old selves. But with Max gone, there was a strange sense of tension around them, and it was obviously they all missed him in one way or another.

"Aright gang! Let's head off!" David announced, snapping out of his deep thought and plastering a huge grin across his face. Gwen scowled, knowing it wasn't genuine. And knowing david had a knack for pretending he was okay when he really wasn't.  
The campers set off following the enthusiastic councilor, as he bounded down a trail, adjacent the mess hall. Gwen followed behind, her shoulders slumped forward and internally groaning. The quicker the hike was over the better.

***

 

After the group had returned from their more-or-less boring hike, they had all headed off to their tents to return their belongings and went to hit the showers to soak off the mud and fatigue from the hike.

Nikki was bounding into the shower room with her towel over her shoulder, dressed in her pajamas. When a tussle in the bushes near surprised her and grabbed her arm pulling her into the bush.

"What the fu-" she yelped before and hand clapped over her mouth.

"Nikki! Its me!" Neil let go of her as she scrambled back from him, her eyes calming as she realized who it was.  
Neil looked shaken and haggard, like he hasn't been sleeping well, and Nikki hadn't really noticed the black bags under his eyes that looked like they'd been there a month or two. 

"Neil, what's wrong? Why are you pulling me into bushes like some weird psycho killer?" She whisper shouted at the curly-headed boy. Neil knitted his hands together looking even more unsteady before he spoke.

"I'm worried about Max. I know he hated camp and everything but he's never missed a year, even before were got here! I can't shake the feeling some things wrong..."

He trailed off for a second and averted his gaze to the grass. 

"...we need to break into the councilor cabin and find his file. There's gotta be something in there about him, a number or address". Neil rubbed his hands together nervously, clearly shaken by the lack of information and communication from his dear friend.  
Nikki nodded, feeling almost guilty that shed accepted Max's absence as he "just grew up", she felt bad that she hadn't looked more into it and tried to figure out what actually happened like Neil clearly had attempted.

"Okay let's do it! I'll create a distraction, you grab Davids keys and get into the cabin" Nikki  
smacked her first down into her other palm. Neil nodded and the two crawled out from behind the buses and ran towards the councilors cabin, forgetting out their showers.

 

***

 

"Got it!" Neil whispered as her turned the rusty key in the lock, it grumbled in protest and Neil's clammy hands slipped off it. The door creaked open loudly and the dark interior of the cabin was exposed. The two took a step forward into the cabin, Nikki behind Neil. 

The cabin was small and dark and smelt damp. The two squinted around into the dark cabin until Neil remembered the torch on his otherwise useless phone ( since there was bad signal at the camp and even worse WiFi.)

Davids side of the room was neat and clean, his bed made and a bedside table made from wood from a tree trunk. On the bedside table sat a green alarm clock and a teddy bear wearing a tiny camp Campbell T-shirt. Nikki snorted as she pointed at the bear and Neil rolled his eyes.  
The two made their way over to the other side of the cabin where Gwen's bed was. Her side wasn't by any means as neat. Her bed sheets falling off the bed and the floor space next to her bed was drowned in trashy magazine's, chocolate wrappers and clothes. Neil picked up a book lying open on the floor, reading the cover. "Love of my loins" it read. The tall boy raised an eyebrow and flicked through a few pages, skimming them briefly, before blushing deeply and putting the book straight down.

"Oh" He spoke quietly, his eyes wide.

"What's up Neil?" Nikki queried, seeing the boy turn tomato red.

"Nothing. Let's find the filing cabinet." The teen shook off his uncomfortable feeling.

The two teens scurried over to the other side of the cabin where a desk, a telephone and a big metal cabinet were. The cabinet was luckily unlocked as Neil flicked through the files of all the campers that had ever come to the camp, glancing past David's own file. Nikki kept watch, standing on a chair and peering out the window of the cabin, from behind the curtains.  
Neil ran his fingers through the files, mumbling "H, I, J, K...."

"Neil come on you're taking too long!" Nikki whispered.

"Shut up, Nikki!"

Nikki jumped off the chair and ran over to Neil, trying to push him aside so she could look for Max's file. Neil shoved her back and the two started shoving and pushing each other. Neil elbowed Nikki in the side and Nikki shoved him back, maybe a little bit harder than intended, as Neil stumbled backwards and hit into the cabinet, making a loud metallic thump. The two stopped for a second and their eyes widened as the doorknob started to turn on the cabin door. The two tried to scramble up but David walked in, flinging back the door to the cabin.

"What in the golly- Neil? Nikki? What are you two doing in here?" He asked, placing his hands on his hips.

The two began to stutter and fumble and Neil tried to pick himself up, tripping while doing so. David looked at the two of them, Nikki dressed in her blue summer pajamas and Neil in only a pair of orange and grey checkered bottoms. They stared back at David noticing he looked almost betrayed by them.  
The lanky councilor sighed and walked over the filing cabinet, picking up the files Neil had knocked over and placing them back in orderly, before closing the heavy drawer shut. He ushered the two out of the cabin.

Before either of the friends could say anything David piped up.

"Look, I know you two were trying to find Max's file. For whatever reason I don't know, but we can't go pestering him or being nosey. He decided not to return to camp this year so we just have to respect his decision. I'm sorry guys".

David placed a hand on both their shoulders, before sighing and slumping back to the cabin. He called back to them from the door.

"Just try get some sleep tonight, you both have an early start." 

The tall red haired man then disappeared into the darkness of the cabin.  
The two friends frowned at each other and Nikki wiped a hand at her eyes, pushing away her tears.  
The two then returned to their tent to get ready for bed. The bonfire was forgotten that night.

 

***

David awoke with a start, jumping up at the sound of a loud noise. He squinted around the cabin for the noise realising the old dusty telephone was ringing loudly by the desk. The red head groaned and slumped out of bed. He wobbled towards the phone careful not to step on any of Gwen belongings in the dark.  
He peered at his watch in the light of the moon coming in the window. 3:16 am.

"Who's calling at this time" he said quietly.  
David picked up the phone, coughing and croaking out a "Hello?"

"David. It's me, Max."  
David stood in disbelief for a few seconds. He almost thought this was some trick of fate. Why was Max calling him at this time? Why was Max calling him on the last day of camp? Why was he calling David at all?  
Max's voice sounded hoarse and harsh, like he had a cold or had been screaming. His voice was deeper than when David had last heard it.

"Max? Are you okay? Why are y-"  
"Listen...As much as it pains me to say this.... I need your help. Meet me at the edge of the city in an hour. I'll be waiting by the dock."  
"But Max-"

And the line went dead.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Moving to New York - The Wombats
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> Anyway here's the next chapter for you guys, its pretty long so enjoy! X

Two councilors, and one former camper, all sitting in silence in the councillor cabin. It was late, or early, depending on how you looked at it. The sun was coming up on the horizon, painting the sky with blotches of orange and pink. The campers would be up in a few hours. The former camper was sitting in an armchair across from David’s desk. His curly, dark hair was wet, recovering from the rain, a few hours previous. He sat hunched over, shivering slightly, cradling a cup of tea in his hands, an old grey blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He has not spoken since he arrived. David leaned against the desk, his arms crossed. Gwen was sitting in on the chair next to the desk, holding a first aid box she had fetched to help dress the boy’s wounds. She, for some reason, hadn’t brought herself to do that yet, stuck staring at the soaked boy in front of her. As two adults, David and Gwen should have taken action, finding the teenager spare dry clothes and dressing the cuts he had on his lip, his cheekbone and his hands. They also should have got him an ice bag for the black eye he had, peppered over his left eye. They should have done something, but they were frozen still.

“Stop fucking staring me.” The dark haired boy growled, low after a few minutes. His voice was still as hoarse as it was on the phone.

Gwen and David suddenly both looked away in different directions, trying to badly pass off like they hadn’t just been staring at him for the past five minutes. David coughed loudly before speaking up.

"We need to get you out if those wet clothes, Max.” David mumbled, moving towards his dresser to pull out some of his dry clothes.

A pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a green sweater. Max flinched slightly as David passed by him. David handed Max the clothes. The red headed man didn’t know what to do or say to the kid in front of him. Max sniffled and got up, the blanket wrapped around him and still avoiding eye contact. He scuffled into the bathroom David and Gwen shared and locked the door behind him. Gwen swung around to face David, who looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“What the fuck happened to him!?” She whispered, making sure not to let the boy hear her through the paper thin walls of the bathroom.

“I...I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me. When I asked he just told me he couldn’t go home and he wasn’t saying anything else about it.”

David didn’t remove his gaze from the armchair, ignoring Gwen’s eyes. Dark black bags plastered his eyes and he looked pale, paler than usual.

"Well whatever happened, someone’s roughed him up, the kid’s covered in cuts and bruises.”

“Gwen I don’t know-“

The door to the bathroom opened and Max shuffled back out, wearing the dry clothes, the jeans rolled up a few times at the bottoms, so he could walk without tripping on them and the blanket wrapped back around his shoulders. He held his balled up wet clothes in his hands. David moved forward, taking them from his grip.

“I’ll hang these up for you, they should be dry by the morning.” He spoke, ignoring the fact it was already morning and the sun was already rising.

Max was unresponsive and just sat back in the armchair, knitting his knuckles together in his lap. Gwen sighed, heavy and choked. She moved towards Max with the first aid kit by her side, the child flinching slightly again at the sudden movement. She chose then to move more carefully. The tall woman pushed back Max’s wet mop of hair, analysing his black eye, which had now swollen significantly.

For the first time since Max had shown up she’d noticed changes in his face. Sure he still had his freckles and his cheeks were still a little chubby from childhood, but the teenager’s face had become significantly more mature. His jaw had become strong and there was dark wispy facial hair forming on the boy’s chin and upper lip. His eye’s weren’t as big and more in proportion to his face now, although still a cold, icy green colour. Gwen then noticed Max had a small black ring pierced through the left side of his lip, which she was sure couldn’t have been done legally since he was only fourteen. He looked a lot older since last year.

Max screwed up his eyes in pain when she gently touched his forehead. He was in bad shape. Cracking open the first aid box, Gwen scanned around it’s bare contents : plasters, dressings, antibacterial cream, painkiller gel and some gold star stickers. Gwen sighed again, annoyed at how cheap Campbell was, as usual, not even providing a proper first aid kit in case of emergencies. She popped the cap off the antibacterial cream, smoothing some into the boy’s scattered cuts on his face and fingers. Max winced, whispering “Fuck.” Under his breath at the stinging sensation. Next Gwen gently lathered painkiller gel across Max’s black eye, the boy screwing up his eyes slightly as she touched it. She dressed his fingers in bandages, and peeling off the backing of a plaster, placed it over his red gashed cheekbone.

“Don’t suppose you wanna sticker?” Gwen tried, hoping to lighten the mood. No response. Gwen retreated. Maybe best not to joke around right now, there’s a time and a place.

“Better?” Gwen asked, staring at the mop of curly hair. The mop nodded to her. She picked up the mops mug and brought it back towards the kettle, flicking it on again. More tea would help. Tea always helps. Gwen’s philosophy was that tea could cure anything, even a broken heart or a lost soul.

David returned from the laundry room, his hands bearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms, a faded camp T-shirt and a pillow. He placed the items on his bed and the pillow on the end of his bed, before returning next to Gwen again, leaning against the desk. The two councilors stood staring at Max, who continued to avoid eye contact. David then bent down on his knee to be level with Max, his mouth opened and he hesitated, thinking of what to say. The man sighed deeply before starting.

“Max...I know you don’t want to talk about what happened to you tonight. I know it’s hard, but we need to know so that we can help you.” He spoke gently, looking at Max.

Max didn’t reply, his mouth clamped shut, staring down at his hands in his lap. He wasn’t in the mood to talk about what happened.

“Max...” David repeated, Gwen leant forward on the chair.

Max’s lips moved slightly, as if he was fighting with himself on whether he should talk or not. He fumbled with his thumbs and looked down at the floor below him. Gwen’s heart went out for the boy, she didn’t want to imagine what he was going through right now.

“He got really drunk again, like he usually does. He’s done that a lot more since Mom left b-but this time it was bad and...and I only just got away...he’s done worse to me b-but I think he was trying to really do it bad this time. If I hadn’t g-got away...” Max trailed off, staring blurry at the tear drops which had now fallen to his hands.

Gwen and David looked at each other, both looking equally heart broken. David placed a hand on the teenagers shoulder and Gwen crouched down and rubbed his back, the two adults huddling around Max.

“...And Max....Is this man your father?” David asked very carefully, squeezing Max’s shoulder gently.

Max nodded slowly, more tears gathering in his hands. David then in one swift move, pulled Max forward into his arms, his head resting on David’s chest. Max was shocked for a moment but then began to shake, heaved sobs escaping his mouth and tears dampening David’s dark green shirt. Gwen waited for a moment before softly wrapping her arms around the two boys in front of her. She continued to rub Max’s back, whispering “It’s okay” and “You’re safe now”.

After Max had a while to cry and Gwen had made David and Max a few more cups of tea, David decided it was best the three better get to bed. He knew max would be exhausted and would need sleep, and he really hoped Gwen would get a few hours in as well, but David knew himself, after hearing Max’s story, he wouldn’t be sleeping at all that night. He didn’t know how to take on what Max had said. It felt so foreign. And it made David so angry. How could someone treat their own child like that? He knew for a fact that Max’s parents never cared about him, from all the times they had dumped him at camp and all the parent’s days they’d missed and all the times they were late picking him up on the last day of camp. But he’d never in a million years thought they would do this. Their own flesh and blood and they deemed it okay to treat Max like this. Neglectful, sure, but he never thought abusive. But then here was Max, a young run away, covered in wounds, both physically and emotionally. And David would do all he could to heal them.

“I’ve set a tent up outside, I’ll take that. Max you can sleep in here tonight. Gwen’s just across the room, so if you need anything...” David spoke up, trailing off.

He walked over to Max and placed his hand on the kid’s shoulder, griping his shoulder kindly, nodding to Max when the green eyed boy looked up at him warily. He quietly said goodnight, then left the cabin and closed the door behind him. Gwen stared off at the door, after David had left. She had never seen him like this. She’d never seen his smile gone for more than two minutes, and she especially had never seen him with the amount of horror he had on his face as he shook her awake, revealing a sopping wet and banged up Max in front of her. She couldn’t look at Max’s face for more than a few seconds at a time anymore. She couldn’t bare seeing him with all those bandages over him...or the black eye. How could they do this to him? This was Max, the smart-ass, sarcastic little shit that riled her up and drove her mad with his antics. He was supposed to be smug and cool and wear a shit eating grin across his face. But here he sat, deflated, broken, beaten up and numb. He refused eye contact. No quips. No comments. Just silence. It scared her. She couldn’t comprehend it.

“I’m going to bed” Max suddenly mumbled, snapping Gwen out of her thoughts.

“Oh, okay. Good.” Gwen hurried.

Max slumped up and shuffled slowly towards David’s bed. The boy lay down on the bed pulling the sheets over himself, not bothering to change into the clothes David had given him to sleep in. Gwen watched him, wanting nothing more than to let out a sob for the boy. But she couldn’t. She was the adult and adults aren’t supposed to cry when kids need their help, and right now Max needed her.

Instead she stood up glancing at the clock beside David’s bed. 5:48 am. The kids would be up in 2 hours and there was no point in sleeping now, not that she would have. Instead she decided for the first time since starting her job at Camp Campbell that she’d go help make and set up breakfast, like David usually did every single morning while she slept in. But, she figured her co-worker wasn’t going to be doing that this morning. Best thing now was to help the kids till they got picked up and then David and herself can figure out how to help Max.

Gwen pulled off her pyjamas, not afraid that Max would see much since he was turned the opposite way and his chest was falling up and down, now in a rhythmic motion.

Good.

He needed some sleep.

The woman pulled on her camp uniform and shoved her boots and jacket on, grabbing her lanyard of keys and making her way to the mess hall to help the Quartermaster with preparing breakfast. Leaving behind the sleeping boy in the cabin.

 

***

 

“Max...Max wake up.” David said softly, taking light grip on the boy’s arm, not wanting to hurt any other injuries he might have had.

  
Max stirred, groaning as he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and distorted from sleep. He could see two figures in front of his bed, David obviously from him shocking red hair, and Gwen next to him. The boy sat up and gripped his head, wincing at the pain in it.

“Fuck” he muttered.

“Here, take this” Gwen handed Max some painkillers and a mug of steaming black coffee.

Max internally smiled at Gwen remembering how he took his coffee, but he wasn’t in any mood to show his small victory. He popped two of the pain killers and gulped down some of the coffee.

"Where are the others?” Max asked.

“They all went home this morning.” David replied.

“Oh” Max replied, half disappointed.

“We told Neil and Nikki that we got wind that you were okay because they were worried about you this summer. Anyway, Neil gave us his email address for you so you could keep in touch...we didn’t mention you were here or what happened.”

“Okay, thanks”

Gwen sat down on the bed next to Max’s feet and looked at the boy worriedly. She piped up.

“Max, if it’s alright with you, we’re going to bring you back to David’s apartment. His apartment is bigger than mine and also I’ve a roommate. I’m going to stay the night over with you guys just to sort everything out and we’ll go shopping soon enough to get you anything you might need for the time being.” Gwen spoke compassionately.

Max agreed to go with the councilors to David’s apartment in the city. He wasn't too thrilled about staying in a cramped up apartment with David, the eternally happy bastard...but what other choice did he have.The teenager finished his coffee and then got up and slumped to the bathroom. David didn’t know what was going to happen to Max at this point in time but he decided once Max was safe at his apartment for a few days, he’d call a social worker in the city and then figure out what was going to happen. Maybe they could find Max some kind of foster home with a nice family. One that wouldn’t hurt him and one that cared about him.

Max returned from the bathroom, his eyes more awake and his hair finger-combed a bit more into place (but still a mess). David took his and Gwen’s already packed bags and chucked them in the boot of the car. Gwen and Max followed him to the car, Max’s worn out backpack on his back. David then locked up the cabin and the mess hall and started up the station wagon, turning down the little dirt road, on their way back to the city.

 

***

 

“We’re here” Gwen spoke softly, coaxing Max to peer out the foggy window of the car, which was striped with rain drops. It had been raining the entire way to David’s apartment back in the city, and that drive was at least an hour long. Outside he could see a drab grey building, tall and worn, splash of darker grey covered it from the rain. Street lamps shined yellow and David drove into one if the car ports underneath the building.

The lanky man switched off the old station wagon and sat still for a minute before opening up the door and getting out. Max and Gwen looked at each other before following. David took his and Gwen’s bags out of the boot of the car and Max carried his own backpack on his back. Gwen tried to argue she could carry her own bag before David gently insisted he took her bag for her. Gwen let him then. Instead she took the keys and opened David’s apartment front door. Both adults let Max step in first. The three took off their shoes as they stepped in, Max pulling off his old, scuffed up sneakers.

Max looked around at the quaint apartment. They stood in the middle of the living room which lead into an open kitchen with a half wall separating the two rooms. The couch in the living room was tired, old, brown corduroy that was a little bit ripped in places. It was scattered with a few green cushions and a fluffy black throw blanket. A big old leather armchair adorned a stitch work cushion that read ‘Home is where the heart is'. A TV and a DVD stand full of movies sat in the corner next to a big filled bookshelf and a window seat. The kitchen was plain, black and white tiles, wood cabinets, a big silver fridge and a round mahogany table in the corner with four matching chairs. A bathroom appeared to be at the end of the hallway next to a utility room and opposite two bedrooms. Small, definitely small...but cosy.

David took the bags into his bedroom and sat them down beside the wardrobe. He grabbed a pen and a notebook out of his beside table drawer and returned to the living room. Gwen and max were sitting on the couch. Max’s feet barely reached the floor below the couch. David hadn’t noticed how small the teenager still was.

“Alright Max, we’re going to make a list of what you need and we’ll go to the store.” David spoke up, setting down a list on the coffee table in the middle of the living room.

“Can you open up your backpack and tell me what you have so we can figure out what you need” David followed up.

Max opened up his back pack and emptied it on to the living room floor. The contents contained: an inhaler, a penknife, an envelope filled with $157, Max’s passport, a banged up box of cigarettes, a medication bottle filled with pills, an iPod and a Nintendo DS. David glared at the cigarettes and penknife on the carpet. He’d deal with those later.

“No clothes?” Gwen asked. Max shook his head.

“I didn’t have enough time to pack any, I just grabbed my savings and my passport."

“Okay well, we have your passport so we can probably apply to get another copy of your birth certificate with that. The medication is for...?” David asked, looking up at Max.

“Epilepsy”

“And you have asthma?”

“Yeah.”

David already knew all this from Max's records at the camp plus the amount of times Max attended the camp but he was just double checking.

“Okay. We’ll need to find out more about your medical records too, just in case.”David added. Better safe than sorry.

David scribbled down items on to the list: a toothbrush, deodorant, clothes. Other things they’d probably just find in the store. David clicked the pen closed and placed it in his shirt pocket. He told Max to change back into his now dry clothes and Max obeyed hurrying off for a minute and returning back in an old red hoodie and black jeans. The three then headed back out into the rain.

 

***

 

“Max you’re not getting those, they’re full of sugar.” David yelled over to the teen who was grinning and holding up a box of Lucky Charms, the grin instantly fading into a frown.

“Why the fuck not?” Max yelled back, scowling.

“Max I literally just told you why.” David gripped the bridge of his nose, nursing a headache that was tickling at his eyes. Max pouted and put back the box, muttering curse words under his breathe.

“Okay so far we have a toothbrush, deodorant, razors, shower gel, five T-shirts, four pairs of jeans, two sweaters, underwear, socks, a coat, a pair of boots and a pair of sneakers.” Gwen read out, ticking off items from the list David made.

David pushed the shopping cart around the grocery section, putting items into the cart. He made a mental note to get Max instant coffee, since he didn’t drink it himself. He picked up bread, milk, butter, the basics he didn’t have at his apartment since being at camp all summer. A woman with a child in perched in the toddler seat of her shopping cart rolled up across the aisle, next to Gwen and David. David stopped to say hello to the small child in the cart, who became shy and hide in her mothers chest. David and the woman both chuckled a bit.

“They’re so sweet at that age.” David cooed, waving kindly to the small human.

“I know, how old is yours? He’s got such lovely, dark, curly hair!” The woman said glancing behind David’s shoulder at Max, who was arguing with Gwen about whether the should get jelly or Nutella for breakfast the next morning.

“Uh...sorry?” David stumbled, confused.

“I wonder where he gets it from? His father’s and his mother’s hair are straight.” The woman continued, thinking aloud. David fumbled and laughed nervously.

“Ha ha, yeah we’re not sure about that, must be the milk man’s boy! Anyway have a lovely day madam, goodbye!” David hurried, rushing off with their own cart and grabbing Gwen by the wrist, Max following behind them. David whispered that they need to hurry up and get home.

David wasn’t sure why he freaked out so much at what the woman had said. She was only putting two and two together. Two adults, one light skinned, one dark skinned and a caramel skinned teenager. But surely Gwen and himself didn’t look old enough to have a son as old as Max, the two of them were only in their late twenties! It was just too complicated of a situation to be explaining to strangers at the grocery store. Especially when they hadn’t even figured out what was happen to Max. He’d only been in their care for a day. And who was to say he’d be staying with them.

They all piled the shopping into the boot of David’s station wagon and drove back to David’s apartment, about two blocks away. David sat quiet in thought the whole way back, not even noticing Gwen staring at him, concerned.

The rest of their hectic day consisted of David cleaning up the cobwebs from the summer he’d been absent, Gwen cooking spaghetti and meatballs for the three of them and Max not talking or doing much. He’d been through a lot the past few days David figured. He probably just needed to sleep for a week. Soon enough it was around 9pm and Max was visibly exhausted. He went to go take a hot shower as David set up the spare bedroom for him.

Max stood under the shower head, letting the hot water pour down his body and soaking his wooly hair. He was too tired to even wash himself. He turned off the shower and stepped out, the cold air hitting him hard. Shivering, he pulled a towel off the hook on the back of the bathroom door and wrapped it around his waist, grabbing his tooth brush and looking up into the mirror above the sink. It was then Max noticed all the bruises littering his chest and shoulders. The boy dropped his toothbrush in the sink and raised up a hand to trace the dark, blue-black splotches across his skin, lingering on a particularly big, bad one inked into the right side of his rib cage. Max snarled.

"Motherfucker.” He growled under his breath.

Max figured it was best to throw on the dressing gown that hung on the back of the door.

“Maybe Gwen and David shouldn’t see these” he thought to himself.He then left the bathroom, his toothbrush abandoned in the sink. He slept on his left side that night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Northern wind - City and the Colour
> 
>  
> 
>  _______________________________________
> 
>  
> 
> So here's the next chapter for yah guys, feat. Bitchy social worker, sleepy max and cute Gwen and David stuff x
> 
> P.s. just wondering, do people actually listen to the songs I put at the start of chapters? I'm still going to put them there, just curious  
> ________________________________________

“You little bastard! How dare you humiliate me like this!”

“No! Dad, I didn’t mean it! I-I'm sorry!”

“You are an embarrassment to this family, Maxwell. Do you understand me?”

“Mom! No please!”

“Your father is not happy Maxwell. Not happy at all.”

“No! Please! stop!”

A dark figured loomed from above, grimy, bony fingers clutching a dark leather belt. A few light taps resounded from the palm of his hand like gun shots, hitting the callouses on his fat, pudgy, fingers.The boy tried to fight, tried to break free from his death tight grip, but to no avail, he was caught. The figure reeled back his arm, leather belt held, ready to smash it down in one swift pull.

“PLEASE NO!” 

THWACK

 

Max woke up in a start, jumping out of his skin as his body rose from the pillow beneath him. He clutched his chest, his heart threatening to hop right out of his rib cage and his breathing so rapid and rasp, Max’s head was hidden in a cloud of dizzy fog. His body covered in a layer of cold sweat that coated his bed covers beneath him.

It was just a bad dream.

That’s all it was.

Max rubbed his eyes. He glanced at the clock, reading 2:38 pm. The boy frowned, trying to remember what time he fell asleep. Was it around 6 or 7 am? He shook his head, with an ache behind his eyes beginning to form. He blinked hard and put his head in his hands.

Just a bad dream.

All it was, was a bad dream.

Groaning, Max peeled back the bed covers from his limp body. He tried to hold his weight on his legs but they wobbled beneath him. “Goddammit” the teenager whispered to himself as he wobbled to the door of David’s guest room and held his weight on the door frame, regaining his strength a little bit. After a few minutes, he shuffled along the hallway into the kitchen. As the teen entered the room, he was met with David and Gwen sitting at the table, joined by two other unfamiliar people.

“ Good morning, Max” David greeted him happily.

The two councilors stared at Max, noticing he seemed a bit shaken. Pretty shaken actually, as his hair was sticking up in all directions, his hair line stuck to his forehead with sweat. His T-shirt hung off him limply and looked damp in patches, the tracksuit bottoms he was wearing were screwed up and one leg of them was shoved up to Max’s knee. He looked haggard.

“You okay, Max?” Gwen asked the boy standing in the door way.

“Eh, yeah I’m fine. What’s going on?” Max shrugged off.

Max glanced back to David and the mystery people next to him. A woman was sitting across from Gwen, dressed in a two piece black skirt suit. Dark red, rectangular glasses were perched on the end of her long, pointy nose and her blonde hair was pulled back so tight into a neat bun, it pulled her eyes and brows back slightly, making her look even more intimidating. To her side, She leant a brown briefcase, next to the table leg. The other was a police officer. He was tall and large, a round stomach fitting just about under his uniform shirt. A fluffy grey moustache was perched under his round, tomato nose. Max didn’t like the look of them, especially the witchy suit lady.

“ This is Ms. Pritcher. She’s a social worker. And this is officer Johnson. They’re here to help us.” Gwen gestured to both people in order of name. The woman nodded and the officer grumbled a “Hello.”

“ Help us with what?” Max scowled at the two unfamiliar adults sitting in the room. The ache was growing stronger behind Max’s eyes as he stood in the bright kitchen.

Ms. Pritcher was stirring a spoonful of sugar into a mug of milky tea, as she gazed down at Max behind her pretentious, red spectacles. “That tea is probably the only sweet fucking thing about her.” Max thought to himself, deciding not to share that with his two councilors. Officer Johnson was perched on one of the chairs facing outwards from the table, his legs spread out wide in a very macho stance. He was dunking a biscuit into his mug of tea, getting crumbs in his moustache as he gobbled it down. Max shuddered in disgust. 

“Well to figure out what’s going to happen to you Max.” Gwen worded carefully, avoiding eye contact with the boy.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Max exclaimed, Ms. Pritcher frowning at the young boy’s use of language. The woman sat up straighter in her seat and glared at the dark haired boy, standing in the entrance of the kitchen. The woman gestured to a chair next to David and Gwen, before clearing her throat.

“...Oh...I get it.” Max growled low in his throat.

“Maxwell, why don’t you take a seat. We all have a lot to talk about.”

“...Right.”

Max scowled, unsure of whether he wanted to do as the woman said, but he felt the only option right now was to oblige. The teenager pulled back the chair loudly scratching it on the tiled floor of the kitchen and took a seat, pulling one of his knees up to his body and the other leg dangling off of the chair. Ms. Pritcher and officer Johnson both frowned at the unnecessary screech of the chair. Max raised an eyebrow as if to say “What’s your fucking problem?” and David and Gwen both muttered apologies. 

Max wasn’t in the mood for this. Not after the bad dream he had. And the ache growing stronger in his head. He couldn’t help but feel upset that Gwen and David had already had enough of him and decided to ship him off to some other unsuspecting family. He’d thought they’d at least keep him a bit longer than a few days, but then maybe he was too much to handle and they didn’t want that responsibility right now. The boy ignored that feeling and pretended he didn’t care and tried to get a rise out of this shitty situation he was now in. It was his problem after all, he was the one that ran away.

“So what’s the damage?” Max sighed, glaring at Ms. Pritcher, one eyebrow cocked and a frown on his face.

“I beg your pardon?” Ms. Pritcher gave a disgusted look to the boy, one that you’d give a dog if it just pissed on the rug in your living room. Max wore a bored look on his face, glaring at the light blue, patterned wallpaper beside them. His expression looked uninterested and distant, but a look behind his eyes almost seemed worried and uneasy of what was to happen next.

“Ms. Pritcher, I’m so sorry, he doesn’t mea-“ Gwen tried to jump in.

“Yahno, where you dumping me? You gonna take me away and put me in some stupid foster home where the asshole parents don’t know a fucking thing about me and label me as a problem child because I act out and get angry for sometimes until they get sick of me and call your ass back and you’ve to put me in another shitty foster home and repeat the shitty fucking process.” Max replied, sarcastically and trying to act like it was a run of the mill routine and that it didn’t phase him, which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Ms. Pritcher adjusted her glasses, pushing them further up the bridge of her pointy nose and picking up the brief case beside her feet, propping it up on the kitchen table and popping it open by the buckles. She cleared her throat and smirked at the teenager sitting across from her.

“Alright Maxwe-“

“It’s Max.”

“Okay. Max. If that’s how you want to play this. Here we have some families lined up for you. You tell me if any jump out at you.” she replied in a sarcastic tone and put on a fake, sweet voice at the end of her sentence.

The woman pulled a pile of papers out of her case shuffling them and licking her thumb, flicking through them while making very interested faces as she read the papers. Gwen and David sat anxiously next to Max, David fiddling with his thumbs and Gwen chewing her nails, both looking a bit pale and a bit worried. The councilors had their eyes glued to the papers Ms. Pritcher was shuffling and David breathed in sharply every time the woman looked like she was going to select a paper. Max was staring over at the woman, trying his best at a poker face.

“Is this really neces-“ David began.

“Well now, here we have a lively family. The father is an ex-soldier and the mother was the principal of a strict boarding school. Says here they believe in strict rules, home schooling and no internet.” Ms. Pritcher spoke, her thumb on one page from the stack. Max’s eyes narrowed.

“Sweet. Fucking try it. I’ll be there a week.”

“Or how about this family, big Christian believers, very strict on that too. Requires at least 3 hours of praying and bible studies a day as well as Sunday school every week.”

“I’m Hindu, so that’ll be a fucking laugh.”

“Or how about this family, very happy and fun, loves outdoor activities and going out in the RV on the weekends, lots of family time. Likes fishing , camp fires and bear hugs.”

Max resisted the urge to puke at that last one. He already got that shit from David, but from a whole family? That’s at least three more people. But then again, Max was determined not to let this bitch falter him. He’d seen plenty of these people. Scary looking adults who thought they could just tell Max to do whatever they wanted and he’d hop to it like a good little boy. He had enough of this woman. Like fuck was she there to help him. And if David and Gwen had enough of him and she were going to take him away from them, then he was going to do all he could to make that woman’s life hell.

“ Bring. It. On. Bitch.” 

“MAX! SHE ALREADY AGREED TO LET US TAKE CARE OF YOU!” David yelled out to the boy sitting beside him. 

Max’s eyes widened and his face was slapped with shock. He stared at Ms. Pritcher, who was smirking and shuffling the papers in her hands, her red glasses sliding down her thin, witchy nose. He glanced back to Gwen and David who were pale with anticipation and on the edge of their seats, worried about what this witch woman would decide. Oh shit. He’d fucked it now.

“Wha-?” Max blurted.

The woman sighed and chuckled to herself, lying the papers out in front of the three opposite her.  
“These are actually blank forms. They’re for retrieving birth certificates, records, etc. I’ll need you to fill them out, Mr. Green and Ms. Martinez. I’ll also need you to provide a report to officer Johnson here, along with what Max has told you." The woman sighed before continuing. "Mr. Johnson will talk to Max privately as well and if he can provide a bit more information in the situation that would be greatly appreciated.” The witchy lady spoke so matter-of- factly, ignoring Max and his desperate spluttering, trying to grasp the situation. She spoke proper and articulately, looking both Gwen and David in the face. 

The two councilors filled out information on the forms Ms. Pritcher had provided, along with known medical history and what they knew about Max from the years of camp. Most of Max’s life was filled out on these pink and yellow forms in front of him, scribbled in Gwen and David’s cursive writing, and he was still sitting there with his jaw slack open and his eyes wide. What the fuck just happened?

Gwen and David provided a report, soon after for Mr. Johnson. Max had too but he didn’t say much apart from sarcastic comments and rude remarks. Ms. Pritcher let the two councilors know that what she was doing for them meant she was using a lot of loopholes, but with their experience in working with children and how well they knew Max, she assured they could keep Max in their care, on condition that he attended school during the start of term, attended therapy every Tuesday and Thursday for at least six months, and that they would go through the necessary preliminaries to becoming certified foster parents. 

After all paperwork was done and Mr. Johnson had some basis of a report, the two adults got up to leave. Ms. Pritcher rounded the table and stooped down towards Max’s ear and spoke quietly next to him.

“Mr. Bhandari, I’ve met hundreds of children like you. More than you’d like to imagine and some worse. I understand what has happened and what you’re going through is horrible, but that’s no excuse for that kind of behaviour. So instead of giving me cheek and mouthing off to me, next time I have the pleasure of seeing you, keep your smart-ass comments to yourself and we can all move on to giving you a better future. Clear?”

“ Crystal” Max gritted through his teeth. One thing he hated more than bitch-ass arrogant adults, was when those bitch-ass arrogant adults were right and he was proved wrong.

The two adults made their way to the door, exchanging a few last words and phone numbers in case of emergency with David and Gwen, before leaving the front door and making their way down the stairs of David’s apartment floor. When it seemed like they had at least gotten a flight of stairs down, a smirk grew across Max’s face, as he ran out the apartment door and shouted down the landing “FUCK THE POLICE!” Gwen ran out after him and grabbed him by the collar of his T-shirt, smacking him round the back of the head and David yelled apologies down the stairs, shuffling the troublesome teen into the apartment, before Ms. Pritcher could change her mind about Max living under his roof.

_________________________________________________

 

Max had finally showered and was dressed in a new pair of black jeans and a dark blue sweater, he slid into the living room in his socks and hopped over the arm of the couch, landing next to David with a thud. David jumped slightly, almost dropping the newspaper he was holding, surprised by Max’s sudden appearance. The man smiled at him, sheepishly. Meanwhile, Gwen was curled up in the big old armchair, scrolling through her phone. The room was silent for awhile and Max sat quietly on the couch, not sure what to do with himself. 

If this was back at camp he’d probably take some jab at David and Gwen would probably laugh and join in. David would say something meant to be inspirational about respecting your peers, and then Max would probably reply with “David that’s gay.” Or maybe Max would hang out with Neil or Nikki, listening to Neil’s dumb nerd science or to Nikki rambling about animals, nature and her general chaos, or maybe he’d come up with some elaborate escape plan to get out of the god forsaken place. But right now they weren’t at camp, and it was kind of a weird situation to be in. David and Gwen just signed forms to be the teen’s legal guardians and he didn’t know how he felt about that. Max guessed that when he ran away, he’d just stay with David and Gwen, who for some reason , Max just assumed always lived together, from how much time they spent together at camp. In reality Gwen lived about a ten minute bus ride away from David’s apartment and had a roommate named “Ruby.” 

Max felt unsure of what to do with himself. He’d been in David’s apartment for three days, and those three days had been spent running around frantically, getting Max clothes and food and signing forms and sorting out the custody of the teen. Now that they were all sorted out and Gwen and David were almost relaxing, Max felt out of place. Not in the way that he didn’t belong, David and Gwen had made him feel more wanted in the past three days than his family over had in the past fourteen years. It was just that, with all the commotion, it had finally settled in, and it hit Max then. He really was living with his camp counselors. 

“What do you want for dinner, Max?” David asked, not looking up from the crossword he was doing in the paper, bringing Max to reality.

“Erm...I don’t know.” Max replied shrugging his shoulders.

David looked up from his paper and thought for a second, staring over at Gwen.

“Hey Gwen, didn’t you have a fajita recipe your mom used to make?” David queried, looking up at the woman sitting across in the armchair. Gwen nodded and held up her finger in front of her. 

“One minute, I’ll call her.” The brunette replied, as she dialled a number into her phone and placed it to her ear, padding into the kitchen in her thick wool socks.

“How’s that sound?” David asked Max. The teen nodded, cracking a slight smile at the thought of dinner. He’d never had fajitas before.

Davis hummed to himself quietly as he looked back to his crossword.  
"Number 5 down, control or influence, ten letters.” David said, thinking aloud, placing his pen on his lip.

“Manipulate.” Max replied monotonously. David looked up surprised.

“Number 9 across, intercourse, eight letters.”

“Copulate.”

“Okay, how about number 15 down, without opposition, nine letters.”

“Unanimous.”Max informed. David grinned at Max, beaming and completely impressed with the teenagers hidden skill.

“I didn’t know you were so good at crosswords Max!” David cheered

Max grumbled to himself before replying “Fuck off , David.”

“No really Max! I’m impressed!”

“Suck a dick, Camp man.” Max hissed. David sat facing Max, query in his voice as he said.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking crosswords, Max.”

“I fucking know that David.... I just used to do them with my Nanni....It’s not a big deal, doesn’t matter.” The boy shut the red haired man down, a pink raised in his cheeks, not used to hearing positive encouragement.

Gwen re-entered the room tapping a pen on a notepad she had picked up in the kitchen. The slight tension that hung in the room had disappeared when the young woman appeared. She read the list of ingredients out to the red head. David excused himself to check the cabinets in the kitchen, reporting what was in stock, yelling into the living room to Gwen. 

“Wanna come help us make them, kid?” Gwen added, nudging the child’s side with her elbow.  
Max nodded slowly, following her into the kitchen.

Dinner was a complicated affair, due to a mix up in instructions, a lack of ingredients such as spices and Max nearly cutting his fingers multiple times while chopping peppers and tomatoes. Gwen also had to stop Max from throwing a chopping knife at David when he lost his temper, and console David after he burnt his finger on the stove and started crying. The process didn’t by any means go to plan. Eventually, the three sat down to their questionably meal. It didn’t look great, if they were being honest. Gwen knew if she had have done the meal by herself with the right ingredients and the lack of bickering that took place between David and Max during the process, it wouldn’t have turned out looking like a red mush with peppers and spice.

David knew he wasn’t the best at cooking. Baking was more his thing. Cakes, muffins, cookies, any kind of dessert you could think of, David probably knew how to make it. With spending so much time with his mum baking while growing up, and taking home economics in highschool, David had mastered the skill pretty well. 

Cooking.

Cooking on the other hand, he hadn’t.

Max pushed the red sludge around with his fork, looking at it, repulsed.

“No offense, but this looks fucking disgusting. Do I have to eat it?” The teen whined.

David and Gwen both looked at each other, looked at their plates and then back at Max, before bursting out laughing. Max looked at the pair like they’d gone insane, but cracked a smile nonetheless.

“It’s not that bad! It was fun making it!” David grinned, wiping a tear from his eye, ignoring the fact Max had threatened him with a knife only thirty minutes beforehand.

“In fairness, David it...ahaha... it looks fucking nasty.” Gwen beamed, snorting at the end of her sentence. Max then started laughing loudly, his laugh chiming through the kitchen.

David and Gwen watched Max grabbing at his sides, laughing hard. It brought smiles to their faces and warmth to their hearts. Hearing Max laugh was a rare occurrence at camp, let alone after the past few days. The teenager would usually snort or chuckle, only laughing big and heavy laughter when he was truly in a happy mood. His laugh was rasp and infectious.

Deciding to settle for some instant noodles Gwen had picked up in the grocery store, the three huddled up onto David’s old couch. David sat on the end of the couch, Gwen huddled next to him and Max perched on the other end. A blanket was draped over Gwen’s lap and feet. Without hesitation, she lay the blanket across Max’s and David’s legs. When the two males looked at her confused, she simply replied “It’s cosy.” Netflix was cracked open on David’s TV, and they searched for a movie. Max suggested some mindless action comedy movie, Gwen, of course, was interested in the rom-coms and David wanted to watch a nature documentary. Bickering began and Max yelled at David again for his poor taste in movies. Eventually, after twenty minutes, they settled with ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off'. 

After about fifty minutes into the movie, Max’s eyes began to droop and his head started lolling forward. Gwen nudged David’s side and gestured towards the curly headed boy. David smiled, reaching over Gwen and patting Max on the shoulder.

“C'mon buddy, to bed with you. There’s not enough room on this sofa for the two of us to sleep.” He spoke softly and Gwen grinned at the last part. 

Max wanted to tell me David to “Go fuck” himself, but he was so tired he couldn’t muster the energy to retort back, so settled for flipping David his middle finger and wobbling to his feet and shuffled to his bedroom.

“Night Max.” Gwen whispered.

The two councilors went back to watching the movie.

Gwen wasn’t really focusing on the movie. She was more so thinking about the events of this morning. Only three days ago, was she a normal twenty-seven year old, no responsibilities. She had no idea that a grumpy, foul-mouthed kid, who she’d known since he was seven, from the screwy camp she worked at, would show up the last day of camp and she'd have to take joint custody of the child with her annoyingly joyful co-worker. Her life had just been thrown a little out of control and she hadn't really had time to register it till then. She was too busy sorting Max out and making sure he was okay.

“Hey Gwen?” David uttered into the darkness of the room, snapping Gwen out of her thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“I...I’m scared.” The red head quaked, staring holes into the wall above the TV.

“Of what, the movie?” Gwen asked, confused. David tore his eyes away from the wall, looking into hers. He began to tear up.

“No. Of all this. Of taking care of Max. Of becoming his foster parent...of being his dad.” The male replied, pools of tears threatening to run over the edge of his lashes.

Gwen was taken aback for a moment. Sure, seeing David cry wasn’t unusual. The man was a big ball of emotions and affection, and seeing him cry over stupid things had almost become a tradition at camp. But, Gwen had never seen her co-worker look so scared and hopeless. David’s philosophy was to see the good in everything, to keep fighting negativity no matter how hard you got hit by it, and to never let hitting rock bottom get you down... But right then was the moment Gwen realized that the whole situation had hit David harder than anything else had in the time that she knew him. He’d never show how he really felt, and the man had a bad habit of hiding his real emotions when things were getting him down. 

David grabbed hold of Gwen’s hand that was resting beside his, squeezing it tight as tears ran down his face. Gwen felt her heart lurch in her chest, hurting for him. The woman put her arm’s around the red head’s neck, hugging him into her shoulder and rubbing his back. She whispered comforting things into his peppered pink ears, as he sobbed hard into her body. Gwen could feel her eyes watering a little as well, in apathy and probably also a bit of fear for the same reasons.

“It’s....not that I don’t want him, or that I don’t love him...because I r-really do. I’m scared I can’t help him...that I won’t be a good p-parent for him.” David choked out, holding Gwen’s body closer to him.  
It was a bit uncomfortable since her legs were crossed and David’s boney build, but she didn’t dare move. Her heart ached for him. He was scared he wasn’t enough for Max, even after Max was abused and hurt by his parents.

“I know David. I know it’s hard. I know you don’t know what you’re doing, fuck I don’t either, I don’t even know if I’m gonna live here or back at my place for now. And I don’t know how to be a mum, I don’t know how to pack lunches and iron clothes and sew. I don’t know how to do any of that shit. Most people have 9 months notice to figure that shit out, we didn’t. But that’s okay, because now we have custody of this great kid, who I know can be difficult and grumpy as fuck a load of the time, but he’s talented and funny and loyal, and he’s out of his shitty home and in a better one. He’s got a foster mum who knows he’s great and a foster dad who would go to the ends of the earth for him. I know its scary as hell but we just have to stay strong for him. Then we can get through all this.” Gwen spoke passionately, holding David close, her hand running through his dark ginger hair.

David nodded and sat back, rubbing his eyes and making them red and sore. He gave Gwen a weak smile before grabbing hold of her hands again. She looked into his green Bambi eyes, tear streaks down his face. He looked so vulnerable. 

“Thank you Gwen. I don’t know how I’d do this without you.” He whispered.

“No problem, yah big baby.” Gwen giggled, hoping it would lighten the mood. She grinned when David chuckled as well.

“I don’t wanna keep you up all night, its pretty late....” David began. Gwen’s eyebrows knitted together

“Are you okay?”

“I will be.” He replied with weak smile, but still showed he felt better than before.

“Okay. Good. Anyway, I hope you sleep okay, goodnight David.” The brunette spoke softly, giving her friend one more quick hug, before pulling herself off the sofa and heading to David’s bedroom. He waved to her and replied “Goodnight Gwen.” And didn’t look away from her till he heard the bedroom door click shut. 

David smiled to himself as he lay a sheet over the sofa, pulling a comforter over it. The man shrugged off the green flannel shirt he was wearing, pulling off his T-shirt and his jeans. He lay down on the couch and pulled the comforter around himself. He picked up his phone and set an alarm for 6am the next morning, and placed it on the coffee table beside him, then lay down and closed his eyes. 

Things would be okay. It was David, Gwen and Max against the world and David knew he’d put up a fight if anything were to happen to either of them. They were his family now. And family stick together.

No matter what.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Cigarettes - The Color and Sound
> 
> Next chapter for you guys x

“Max, did you brush your teeth?” David yelled down the hallway to Max’s room.

“Yes David, I’m not fucking five.” Max hollered back.

Max had been living with David and Gwen for three weeks. It was difficult meshing the three of them at first, what with David’s cheery demeanour, Gwen’s need to constantly have trash TV playing the background and as David put it, Max’s “unnecessary” swearing. Regardless of those issues, everything else had gone pretty smoothly. David took up more hours at the book shop, which he worked at during the rest of the year when he wasn’t a camp counsellor, Gwen had moved out of her old apartment and into David’s and was looking for a job to help with the bills and Max had been enrolled in a new school. Overall Max felt things were looking up, not that he’d let the other two know that.

Max pulled a long-sleeved gray T-shirt over his skinny frame and threw on his red vans sneakers, that were lying under his bed. Shoving his old backpack on his shoulders, he left his room, walking into the kitchen down the hallway. David sat at the table eating buttered toast and sipping at his mug of tea, while Gwen, who was dressed in a fluffy purple dressing gown, had her head in the fridge, searching for items for Max’s lunch. Max pulled a mug down from the cabinet and poured some instant coffee into it and pouring in hot water from the kettle, before sitting down at the table.

“Here, made you toast.” Gwen grumbled, placing a plate of toast in front of the child. Gwen wasn’t much of a morning person.

Max muttered a “Thanks.” And nibbled at a piece of the crust on the toast, the teen also not much of a morning person and not a fan of eating much early in the morning.

“Are you excited for your first day of school Max?” David beamed, enthusiasm radiating from the stupidly huge grin on his face. Max screwed up his face at the gesture.

“No David. School is pointless and doesn’t fucking mean anything.” The teenager responded bitterly, dropping his piece of toast after suddenly going off of it.

“Well that’s not true! You’re good at school Max, you got accepted into high school early because the principal was so impressed with your results in your entrance exams!” David marvelled.

“Not like it was hard.” Max mumbled to himself.

Max had been home-schooled for most of his middle school life, so hadn’t attended a public school since around the age of eleven. It might explain why he’d skipped a grade, since he’d get bored and read ahead in his books and ask his teacher difficult questions beyond his curriculum. It also might explain why he was so nervous of starting a new school with new students who were all going to be a year older than him. Of course he wasn’t going to admit his stomach was doing flips and his palms were cold and sweaty.

“All I’m saying is that Gwen and I are so proud of you, Max!” David rejoiced, patting Max on the shoulder. Max brushed it off, but if he were being honest it almost felt kind of bearable that he finally made someone proud.

“Shut the fuck up David.” Max tried to sound annoyed but it didn’t follow through and just sounded like he was stating it rather than growling it.

“Here’s your lunch, little shit.” Gwen spoke, plopping a paper bag down in front of Max. “Ham and mustard sandwiches, just how you like them, with the crusts cut off.” She added.

“Oh...thanks.” the curly headed boy muttered.

David stood up from his seat, cleaning up his mug and plate from breakfast and placing it in the dishwasher. The ginger haired man was dressed in a white shirt and a green granddad sweater. He wore dark blue jeans and pulled on a brown jacket and dark leather satchel over his shoulder. Max rolled his eyes at the sight of the man’s outfit. Of course he’d dress twice his age. David pulled his keys out of a tray situated next to the fridge in the kitchen.

“I’ll drop you to school Max.” David grinned at the curly headed boy.

Max begrudgingly followed the cheery red headed man out the front door of the apartment and downstairs to the parking lot downstairs.

 _______________________________________

  
Gwen had guessed Max probably wasn’t the most co-operative student in the world. She figured he was the same as he was at camp, bored, uninterested, and a bad habit of being a pain in the neck. She figured he wouldn’t exactly be teachers pet, But she didn’t expect to be sitting in the principal’s office, being told Max had some “issues” on his first day, with the curly headed teen in question sitting next to her, holding a tissue up to his bloody nose.

The principal of Max’s school sat in front of the two, at a big mahogany desk. A name plate reading “Ms. Doherty” sat on her desk, next to a pot of pens and pencils and a picture framed faced towards the woman. The woman was plump, with brown curly hair and a short stature, standing what seemed to be shorter than even Max. Reading glasses were hanging from her neck from a black cord and she wore a bobbled, old, lilac jumper and bright lipstick painted her lips and some of her teeth. Crows feet were printed beside her eyes and she wore an obnoxious grin on her face, which reminded Gwen of a certain ginger haired moron she knew.

“Now, Mrs. Bhandari-“ the woman began.

“I-it’s Ms. Martinez actually, I’m Max’s foster parent.” Gwen quickly corrected, confused that Max’s principal didn’t already know this fact, since they made it clear during Max’s enrollment.

Ms. Doherty looked at a file printed with Max’s name on her table, squinting through her glasses at it. The woman chuckled deeply and her large chest moved up and down as she laughed. Max stared at the woman, looked slightly horrified as she laughed.

“Oh I do apologize, I had a bit of a senior moment. As I was saying Ms. Martinez, Max had a few issues earlier today on his first day...I’ll let Max explain to you what happened, he’ll be able to tell you more than I can. I wasn’t present at the time.” The plump woman spoke, a jolly tone to her voice, which appeared to be irritating Max by his bitter expression.

Max sighed deeply before speaking up, Gwen turning to the boy attention.

“ So earlier I was just walking along, minding my own business, when some brain cell-lacking moron about the size of a fridge walks up to me and tells me my lip piercing is on the “ gay side” of my lip, calls me a “fucking Muslim”. So obviously I get fucking angry and tell him, first of all, don’t be a homophobic, racist asshole, secondly I’m not even Muslim and not every brown skinned person he walks by is gonna be a Muslim, there’s also no such thing as a gay side of your lip and lastly to open his fucking mind and stop being an ignorant fucking cunt.” Max fumed his voice getting louder as he continued his story.

“So what’s with the busted up nose?” Gwen shrieked

“Oh, he clocked me in the nose because I called him a cunt.” Max grumbled, trying to scratch dried blood off his top.

“Brandon, the student, has been suspended for his racist and homophobic remarks, along with abuse of another student. An investigation has been opened towards his assault on Max.” Ms. Doherty continues, her voice stern and her eyebrows knitted together. Max scoffed.

“He didn’t assault me, I’m fucking fine!” Max threw one arm into the air, the other clutching a tissue to his nose, making his voice sound nasally. Gwen rolled her eyes.

“Well good. This guy should be expelled, I don’t want him around Max if he’s so hateful towards him because of his religion or skin tone and I don’t want that homophobic and racist shit around students anyway.” Gwen demanded, her voice rising.

“Don’t worry Ms. Martinez, Brandon will not be continuing his education at this school. We not only pride ourselves on academic achievements but also the safety, security and happiness of our students, such as Max here.” The principal spoke seriously, looking Gwen straight in the eye. Her knuckles were sewn together and resting on the desk in front of her.

Gwen nodded, scowling slightly.

“Good. Just be happy I came down here, and not my- a-and not David.” Gwen said, stuttering slightly. “My? My what? My idiot friend I share the custody of Max with!?” Gwen thought, mentally kicking herself. Max was taken aback by Gwen’s slight slip up, throwing his foster parent a confused frown. Gwen ignored it.

“The school nurse took a look at Max, his nose isn’t broken or anything serious, apart from a bit of blood he’s perfectly fine.” The principal chuckled, hitching her glasses up her nose. Gwen frowned. This principal seemed pretty laid back about the fact Max had been hit on his first day of high school.

“However, the reason Max is in trouble is because a teacher caught him smoking behind the janitors shed earlier this morning.” Ms. Doherty continued on. Gwen reeled around to stare at the teen, who had made himself busy staring at the wall.

“You got caught smoking?” Gwen spoke quietly, but Max definitely wasn’t comfortable with her tone and the sight of a vein in her neck throbbing. Max nodded slowly.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU MAX!?” Gwen barked at Max. She hadn’t meant to get so angry but she couldn’t help it. Here she was trying to give Max a better education and better life, and he’d got in trouble for smoking on his first day. Its like he didn’t even care.  
“Don’t you know you can die from that shit!? You can get cancer and heart disease! Some people end up with fucking holes in their throats Max!” Gwen shouted out.

“Gwen...I-i'm sorry.” Max quaked, his voice wobbling and quiet. Gwen was taken aback by it for a moment. She expected some smart-ass remark, or at least aggression. She didn’t expect Max to apologize, and she definitely didn’t expect him to mean it.

“ Now Max isn’t in any serious trouble, it's his first day and he may not have known our policy on smoking at this school, along with the commotion earlier on today with Brandon. But Max will have to attend detention after school on Wednesday for an hour. He knows the smoking policy now and there will be more serious repercussions if he’s caught smoking on the school grounds again.” Ms. Doherty spoke stern again.

Gwen’s anger suddenly disappeared and she felt a bit guilty for screaming at Max. She’d never seen the teenager look so sorry for doing something. Obviously, with Max’s antics over the years, he’d been forced to apologize, he never sounded sincere and always argued his point. But sitting it that office, Max had gone quiet, and was sitting slumped in the plastic chair. His nose had stopped bleeding but his upper lip was tainted red slightly, along with blood splatters down his gray shirt. He was avoiding eye contact with her and was staring down into his lap, as he was pulling at the frays from the rips in the knees of his black jeans.

After Max had been given his punishment and Gwen sorted out a few other things with Max’s principal such as Max’s school books and his classes, the two were walking out of the school doors, Gwen throwing her black duffle coat over herself, and Max hitching his backpack onto his shoulder with one strap, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. The two walked in silence for the entire way to the bus stop, around the corner from the school. David had taken the car to work, so Gwen had to visit Max’s school by bus. The two waited at the stop, Gwen checking the timetable printed on the side of the bus shelter. She rubbed her hands together, shivering slightly at the cool wind passing through her. The autumn air was getting colder by the day. She looked to Max, who didn’t flinch from the cold despite being only in a cotton long sleeved top. The teens head was still hanging slightly, staring at his sneakers.

“Hey, where’s your jacket?” Gwen spoke up.

“Forgot it.” Max muttered quickly. He didn’t look up from his vans.

“Aren’t you cold?” Gwen pressed.

“No.”

Gwen pulled off the thick wool scarf she had wrapped around her neck and wrapped it gently around Max’s chest, giving his shoulder a tight squeeze. Max thanked Gwen quietly and the two went back to silence. Not long after the bus appeared around the corner and pulled up beside them. Gwen shuffled in her pocket for her bus pass and some change for Max’s fare. She made a mental note to get Max a bus pass too. The two shuffled on to the bus and sat down in front of two old women, who were chirping away to each other like birds.

Max sat with his head hung slightly, his fingers knitted together in his lap. He didn’t know if he should say something or stay quiet. He wasn’t sure if Gwen was still angry or not, she had lent him her scarf but he wasn’t sure if it was because she wanted to or felt obliged to. He glanced at the woman quickly, who was leaning on her hand, staring out the window. He couldn’t read her expression. And earlier in the office, he was taken back by how angry she had gotten. Max was used to Gwen being mildly irritated by him most of the time, it was his fault after all, he liked to wind her up. He’d be sarcastic and make jokes at her expense and overall he’d just act like a pain in the ass. But she’d never screamed at him like that. She just got so angry with him, and Max felt guilty for making her so angry. He didn’t think smoking was that big a deal to her, but his guess was wrong.

The two sat in silence for the entire bus ride apart from when the old women behind them commented on how strong and brave Gwen was for having a child so young. Gwen flustered and began to try make sense in the situation until Max piped up,

“Ew no, she’s my sister. Right Gwen?”

Gwen agreed and the old women apologized for their mistake, going back to their own conversation, mumbling that Gwen and Max didn’t really look like siblings. Gwen gave a small smile to Max for his quick thinking, the teenager didn’t notice.

 _______________________________________

 _ **Max-b has logged on.**_  
_**Neilstein has logged on**_.

M: hey neil

N: Hey man, how was your first day?

M: fuckin sucked I got detention already

N: How did you even do that? What did you do?

M: got caught smoking

N: Dumbass

M: hey fuck you

N: :)

N: Are Gwen and David pissed?

M: davids not home from work yet, so Idk

N: And Gwen?

M: man she was fuckin mad. she screamed at me in the school office

N: Fuck Max

M: i know ive never seen her like that before she never screamed at me when i did shit at camp she just got annoyed

N: Man use commas, Jesus

M: sorry, grammer police. arent you jewish? i thought you dont believe in jesus

N: Grammar* and we do believe in Jesus, we just don’t believe he was the messiah or whatever.

M: fuck you and also damn neil, you really put the ish in jewish

N: That is a stale, antique joke, Max

M: i thought it was pretty good actually

N: Cunt :)

M: dick :)

**_Nikkiiii has logged on._ **

Ni: Guys stop fliiiirting

M: hey nik

N: Nikki, Candy said you had to walk the dog, why are you online?

Ni: becuz mom said I can do it later neil! Beside why didn’t u take out the garbage yesterday?!

N: Because I had a test I had to study for, ask dad, he said I didn’t have to

Ni: lies! Ur already too smart! u didn’t have to study!

N: Nikki yes I fucking did, you saw me making flashcards when you ran into my room yesterday.

Ni: LIAR!

M: oh my god both of you shut the hell up.

Ni: NEVER!

M: i still can’t believe you two have to live in the same house.

N: Max, we’ve lived together for like two years, I see Nikki every day and I still can’t believe it.

M: you guys fight all the time now bc you have to live together

Ni: thats only becuz Neil’s a stick in the mud and I like to have fun like a normal person!

N: Shut the fuck up, Nikki.

M: see what i mean

N: Shut up too, Max.

M: touchy

Ni: so when so we get to visit u Max?

N: Yeah man, we’ve not seen you in over a year! If we all didn’t talk everyday on here I’d almost think maybe you died.

M: i was gonna ask gwen and david about having you guys over this weekend, you guys could sleep over and we could watch movies or something idk

Ni: that sounds awesome!

N: Yeah, that’s a really cool idea, dude :)

M: cool guys, anyway I gotta go, camp man’s calling me. Ill message you guys later okay

Ni: BYE MAX!!!

N: Talk later, bye!

**_Max-b has logged off._ **

Ni: so neil, how’s it goin??

N: Nikki. Go walk the fucking dog.

Ni: FINE!

 **_Nikkiiii has logged off._ **  
**_Neilstein has logged off._ **

 _______________________________________

Max fell back onto his bed with a thump, the springs in the mattress wining quietly at the light stress of the teen’s weight. The boy chucked his iPod next to him on the bed, lying back on his pillow, crossing his arms and tucking one leg underneath the other. He could hear David calling him from the kitchen but didn’t make any effort to respond and for some reason felt nervous and an uneasy feeling about leaving his bedroom. He knew David wasn’t an aggressive person and any time Max got in trouble at camp, David would pull the ‘ I’m very disappointed’ card and then follow up with a pep talk. The only times Max ever heard David raise his voice was when Max questioned the camp’s authenticity or traditions, but that was only because David was David and he’s crazy about camp. He guessed David wouldn’t be angry about the incident, he didn’t think David was capable of it, but something was holding Max back. Something was preventing Max from getting up off his bed, marching into the kitchen and saying “Yeah I did it, but its over now and I’m sorry.” Dare Max say, he was almost scared.

David knocked quietly on the bedroom door. Max mumbled approval and the large wood door opened revealing a less than chipper ginger haired man. David entered the room and sat down next to Max’s sprawled out form on the bed. He was awkwardly tall and boney and looked uncomfortable as he sat down. The tall man went to pat Max’s leg that was lying next to him, but he hesitated and let his hand drop. It was a few minutes before he said anything.

“I heard what happened at school today.”

“Yeah” Max choked out.

“First of all, I’m horrified at the behaviour of that student. The remarks he made and with punching you...” David trailed off .

“Hey David, look. I’m fine. No broken bones or hurt feelings, that guy’s just an asshole. He’s being expelled now anyway, so that’s not my fucking problem anymore.” Max spoke, gaining his voice a little.

“Okay. But the second you feel threatened you tell your teacher or principal, and they can call me, Max.” David cried out.

“Yes I’ll be sure to act like a little pussy bitch if someone’s being a dick to me.” Max replied dryly, rolling his eyes.

“Hey! Language, Max.”

“Suck a di-“

“Secondly, what happened earlier with the smoking...Max I’m disappointed in you. I knew you smoked from seeing the cigarettes fall out of your bag the other week, that’s one thing, but being caught at school is another. You could get suspended if it happens again.” David spoke in a serious tone, his eyebrows knitted together.

“Wait. What? You’re not mad I smoke?” Max asked, sitting up further.

“Well, I’d prefer you didn’t, its a bad habit and I don't like it, but I can’t tell you what not to do in this situation. In the end, you know its bad for you and you know you shouldn’t and if I tell you not to it’s going to make you do it more in spite of me.” David replied, staring at the wall across from Max’s bed.

“Damn David.” Max muttered.

“But, on the contrary, Gwen wants you no where near those things and since I respect her wishes, she shares joint custody of you with me and she’s my best friend, I’m siding with her.” David contradicted, rubbing his cheek with his hand, still not looking at Max.

Of course. There was a catch. While David was a pushover and had a problem getting mad at anything, Gwen was there to back him up and make sure Max didn’t get out of line. David was like a small, innocent lamb and Gwen was his vicious lion who made sure people didn’t fuck him over.

“What’s Gwen’s problem with it anyway?” Max queried, crossing his legs and trying to catch David’s eye.

“You...don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“...Do you remember about 3 years ago at camp, when Gwen had to go home a month early?” David said, his voice sounding heavy

Max remembered that Gwen got a phone call one evening and left that night to go back home. David then had to take on the camp and its campers by himself for the last month of summer, and if you thought it was out of control beforehand, it had been even worse when Gwen wasn’t around.

“I remember you nearly killed us all because you’re a fucking moron.” Max retorted, crossing his arms, David frowned.

“Okay. Well, the reason Gwen had to leave was because she’d gotten a phone call from her mom about her dad.” David approached the subject carefully.

“Okay...”

“Her mom said that Gwen’s dad had a heart attack in his sleep and...passed away.” David spoke, his voice a bit wobbly

Max’s blood ran cold. That’s why Gwen had to leave a month early? She had to go home and attend her father’s funeral. Max couldn’t imagine it, having to go home from your shitty job to find out your dad died and you didn’t even get to say goodbye. The teen had two (mostly) healthy parents that didn’t care about him at all, but he couldn’t imagine having to go through having a parent who did love and care about you, die before they even hit old age.

“The paramedics said it was mostly likely caused by smoking.” David finished.

So that was why Gwen got so mad. She was mad because she had seen the effects of smoking first hand. She saw what it can do to people and she didn’t want Max to end up the same way as her dad. It wasn’t like back home where Max’s parents didn’t give a shit what he did, he could go out all night and not come back till nine the next morning and they couldn’t care less. But now he was with David and Gwen, and they did care. Same way they cared when the teen fell over while going for a walk and cut his knee open, and when he brought home five energy drinks from the corner store and he was only allowed to drink one a day and when he called David in the middle of the night to come pick him up and then the two councilors took him in as their foster child because he had no where else to go. They cared.

Without a word, Max got up from the bed, opened up his back pack and pulled out the box of cigarettes. The teenager yanked open his door and marched down the hall into the kitchen. He called out Gwen’s name and the woman popped her head up from the armchair in the living room. She stared at Max standing in the middle of the kitchen before he held up the box and pointed to it, then turned on the tap and shoved the cigarettes under the tap. Taking the saturated sticks out of the box, he one by one, broke them in half and chucked them into the trash can beside him, the empty box following after. Max turned back to look at Gwen, taking out two lighters from both his back jeans pockets and holding them up, throwing them into the garbage too. He then stood tall in the kitchen, crossing his arms and standing feet slightly apart, staring back at Gwen. Gwen’s face was mixed with confusion and shock at what had just taken place. David followed down the hallway.

“Because I don’t really feel like getting cancer or whatever either.” Max said aloud, staring Gwen in the eyes.

A second went by before Gwen jumped up out of her seat and ran into the kitchen, diving to her knees and catching the skinny teenager in a hug. His height was barely bigger than Gwen leaning on her knees and she pulled him close into her before he had time to reject it. David stood still, shocked, in the entrance of the kitchen.

“Thank you, Max.” Gwen whispered, pulling him tighter. Max placed a hand on the woman’s back and patted it awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

David smiled at the two hugged in a lump in the kitchen.

“Max is a good kid.” He thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Sweater weather - The Neighborhood
> 
>  
> 
> Some cogs are turning in this one guys, enjoy x

Sometimes, you just get gut feelings. A niggling that something is wrong. Something’s going to happen. Something bad. A sense of dread, a sense of uncertainty and anxiety, and you can’t stop it. That’s what Neil and Nikki got after all, when Max didn’t turn up to camp. That’s what Gwen got, when she heard David drive off in the middle of the night to pick Max up from the dock. That’s what David got when he woke with a start on Thursday night, feeling that same sense of dread. Running into the teenager’s room, he found Max having a seizure in his sleep.

“Brought on by significant change in his life or maybe even stress.” Doctors reckoned, trying to give David and Gwen an answer to the situation, in the hallway of the hospital, outside the room Max was asleep in, resting in a grey plastic and metal bed.

“It’s not a shock, considering Max has previously been diagnosed with epilepsy. But from what you’re telling me, it doesn’t seem he has fits often, so this is more serious than a child his age getting them more regularly. We’ll need to monitor how often he has seizures from now on and just make sure he is taking his medication. After that, I’d maybe considering looking into a service dog if I were you.” One doctor explained to the two foster parents, standing worried and half dressed in their clothes and pyjamas. Their eyebrows knitted and their knuckles linked together for support.

The two adults returned to the room, grabbing chairs next to the teenager’s bed. He looked so small in the hospital bed, built for at least the size of a six foot adult. The boy lay still on his back in the bed, a drip hooked up to him along with a heart rate monitor. He looked so withered compared to usual. A light blue cotton gown dressed him and a cream wool blanket lay over his body, the t-shirt and boxers he had arrived in the ambulance in, were folded neatly on the end of his bed. A large curtain hung pulled back, behind the bed, the rail going around the space of the bed and there was a faint sound of the heart rate monitor beeping in the background. Gwen and David sat next to each other, both feeling exhausted and scared within an inch of their life. They didn’t know what to do, Max never had a seizure at camp. They were aware of his condition and he always took his medication as far as they knew, but they had never experienced the teenager having an actual fit before.

Gwen nibbled at her finger nails, shaking slightly from the shock and from the cold temperature in the room, while David sat with his elbows on his knees and his hands crossed, placed at his lips, deep in thought. Gwen shivered visibly, before David noticed and took off his grey wool coat and draping it around the woman’s shoulders.

“Thanks.” Gwen some quietly and showing David a weak smile. He returned the gesture. A long silence followed

“I should’ve made sure he took his medication. I should’ve talked to him before he went to bed, maybe he could’ve vented to me. He might not have been stressed going to bed.” David spoke out, breaking the silence.

“David-“ Gwen began, placing one hand on David’s forearm.

“I’m supposed to protect him. I’m supposed to make sure these things don’t happen to him.” David continued, getting more and more irritated by the second. His arm started to tense, Gwen gripped it tighter to remind him she was there.

“We can’t have predicted he’d have a seizure, David. We knew he had the condition but we’ve never been in this situation before. Max never told us what to do if it happened. We did all we could, and thankfully he’s okay, because we acted fast.” Gwen spoke softy, trying to catch David’s eye, but the red head was too busy baring holes into the linoleum floor with his eyes.

“I shouldn’t have let this happen to him. What kind of parent am I?” David gritted through his teeth. The man’s fists were balled up tightly and he was almost shaking. Gwen opened her mouth to speak again but David stood up swiftly and made his way out if the room, still seething as he left.

“David!” Gwen tried to whisper shout after him, cautious to wake the sleeping boy beside her, but it was pointless, as Max stirred awake.

“Gwehen.” The boy muttered incoherently, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hands and going to sit up. He felt resistance from the drip and heart monitor attached to him, looking over confused at the objects and then to Gwen.

“Hey, buddy. It’s okay, you had a seizure in your sleep and David found you, we just had to bring you to hospital to make sure everything’s okay.” Gwen smiled tiredly to the teenager, a hand going up to ruffle his curly hair gently. Max frowned but was feeling too weak to protest. The woman was relieved to see the teen was okay.

“Where’s David?” Max croaked, sitting up further.

“He’s...gone for a walk.” Gwen explained carefully.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Gwen took a hold of Max’s hand and rubbed his palm with her thumb. The teenager was going to protest again, but figured it wasn’t the time or the place.

“...Is David okay?” Max asked.

“Not that I care or anything.” He followed quickly. Gwen smiled gently.

“He will be.” Gwen spoke softly. Silence fell upon them again.

It was hard for Max to decide what to say in these situations. When he had a seizure or any kind of health issue back home and he had to go to hospital, usually, his parents wouldn’t be there. They’d be at the hospital for about an hour to get all the insurance details out of the way and then they’d leave and come back a few days later to pick Max up after he spent a few nights in the hospital.

“Do you think they’ll let me have coffee?” Max asked Gwen, breaking the silence and speaking up a bit louder now.

“I don’t know, I’ll ask.” Gwen shrugged and left for a few minutes and returned back with a cup of water for Max and one for herself.

“It might affect your heart beat so they said no but you can have some when we get home. A nurse will be in soon to give you a check over.” The woman stated before sitting back down on a plastic chair next to the teenager’s bed. They both took sips of their water.

“Maybe it’ll be a hot nurse with big boobs.” Max grinned to himself before receiving a swift smack to his shoulder. The two of them giggled together for a few minutes.

“Hey you ever gonna shave your stache?” Gwen questioned wiggling her finger at the light fluff on Max’s upper lip.

“I don’t know...I’ve never been taught to shave properly.” Max replied shrugging.

“What do you mean?” Gwen asked confused.

“Like I’ve tried to, but I always end up fucking butchering myself...no one ever taught me to shave my face so I don’t know how to without cutting myself up.” Max replied quietly Gwen gave a weak smile, trying her best to hide the spike of anger that shot through her as Max said that.

A nurse (middle aged and not attractive to Max’s disappointment.) knocked on the door frame and Gwen gestured her in. The woman checked Max’s heart rate monitor and the drip attached to his arm. She talked a few minutes to Gwen and Max, explaining various things to the two about Max’s epilepsy and controlling it, along with giving Gwen a prescription for Max’s medication.

“You should be good to leave this afternoon, petal.” The nurse smiled at Max. The woman then left the room.

“Hey you should try get some sleep, Max.” Gwen whispered to the teenager after he yawned wide.

“What about you?” The curly headed boy asked rubbing his eyes.

“I’ll take a nap too.”

“Alright.”

“Sleep well, Max.”

“You too, Gwen.”

_________________________________

  
David returned back to the room after about an hour or so, finding Max and Gwen both gently snoring away.

While he was gone, David had walked out of the hospital and down the road, power walking in anger. He was so upset with himself for not being more prepared. What if it was too late? What if Max wasn’t okay after having the seizure? He didn’t know how long it was happening to Max before he found him. It could’ve been so long, then what would’ve happened to him? But then how could he have done anything else?

David thought back to what Gwen said. “ He’s okay because we acted fast.”

Gwen was right. What else could they have done in their situation. David decided then that this wouldn’t happened again, he’d learn all he could about Max’s epilepsy and learn he can to help Max when it happens again. There’s no way David would let this happen again.

The red headed man felt a bit stupid for storming off on Gwen like that. It wasn’t fair since she was probably just as worried as he had been about Max.

Maybe even more, judging by the shock and horror on her face when David ran into the woman’s room screaming about Max.

David quietly pulled a chair up next to Gwen’s and took a seat. He gazed at the teenager asleep in the bed in front of him. Max lay on his stomach, snoring quietly, his mouth open slightly. The boy’s hair stuck out in weird angles and his hands were tucked under his pillow. David was so relieved that Max was okay. He couldn’t live with himself if something more serious happened. The man ruffled Max’s hair, a soft whine was his response from sleep.

David looked over to his friend, snoozing away. David coat was still wrapped around her, her body curled to the side and her head lolling slightly to the side. Dark circles had formed under her eyes, her long, thick lashes resting against them. David allowed himself to smile weakly. He really did have a beautiful best friend.

 __________________________________

“What about that one?” Gwen asked pointing to a picture dog on David’s laptop screen.

“That one's a fucking poodle.” Max replied bluntly.

“So?”

“That’s a girly dog, Gwen.”

“No it’s not, it’s just a fucking dog.”

“Guys stop arguing.” David interjected, setting down two cups of coffee and a cup of tea on the table, pulling up a seat next to Max and Gwen in the kitchen.

The three were looking at a website for service dogs, since the doctor had suggested it could help Max and warn David and Gwen if he ever had a fit again. Max wasn’t so sure about getting a service dog though. Dogs cost money, especially trained service dogs, and the money for the food and the vet bills would be expensive too. He didn’t want to cost David and Gwen that money, even more so that they were already paying for Max himself. Gwen didn’t have a job yet, after countless amounts of bad interviews and getting turned down, she always had trouble getting jobs. David only worked at the library, which wasn’t making a mint, and barely paid much over minimum wage. The price of a dog on top of rent, food and Max was too much. Max felt he wasn’t worth the hassle anyway.

“Hey, what about this one Max? He’s cutie.” David cheered eagerly, pointing to a black Labrador on the screen. He was still only a puppy, maybe only two years old and looked so happy, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging. Max felt his stomach curl up a bit. The dog was so cute.

“Yeah he is.” Max said quietly before he could stop himself.

“But I don’t want him!” Max hurried.

“What? But he’s so cute Max!” David cried, clicking on the dogs profile.

“Yeah Max, he’s apparently fully trained, as well as being really responsive and friendly.” Gwen added.

“No, I don’t want him. I don’t want any fucking dog, okay?” Max snapped at the two adults before sliding off his chair and stomping into his room.

Max felt bad for storming out on his foster parents, but they weren’t listening to him. All this time they wanted to buy him clothes and food and stuff that he didn’t need. Its not like he needed those things, its not like he got that stuff before he lived with them. He wasn’t going to let them spend the little money they had to get him a dog just because his brain didn’t work properly.

The teenager sat down on his bed, kicking off his sneakers and throwing himself back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Why can’t you be fucking normal?” Max whispered aloud, feeling his eyes prick up a bit.

“Why do you always have to be a burden on everyone?” the boy felt hot tears run down his cheeks. He tried to stop them by rubbing his eyes with the sleeves of his hoodie, getting more and more angry at himself for letting himself cry.

“Only pansy’s cry. Are you a fucking pansy!?” a voice flashed in Max’s mind, deep and bitter.

“Grow a fucking pair, you little toad.” The voice seethed, Max sobbed quietly.

“No son of mine is going to be a crying little pansy boy!” The voice screamed, full of venom and contempt.

TWACK!

____________________________________

  
**_Max-b has logged on_ **

M: hey

**_Neilstein has logged on_ **

N: Hey man, are you okay? David rang my dad, he said you were in hospital.

M: yeah im fine, just had a seizure. I’m okay now though, they checked me over and gave me more medication and shit.

N: Okay, good. Nikki and I were really worried last night. David called us this morning and told us you were home safe though.

M: yeah. You guys on your way

N: Yep, we’re both on the bus now. We can’t wait to see you man :)

M: yeah I can’t wait either. I’ve got some movies saved on Netflix and Gwen bought frozen pizzas

N: Sweet :)

N: You Okay, man?

M: yeah im fine

M: just missed you guys

**_Nikkiiii has logged on_ **

Ni: Aww maaax we missed u 2!

M: for fucks sake nikki

Ni: what? What I do?

M: nothing. Just ring me when you guys are off the bus

__________________________________

  
“MAX!” Nikki cried tackling the curly headed teenager to the floor when he opened the door.

Max couldn’t help but let out a groan and laughed as Nikki hugged him tight, his previous down mood disappearing. Max grinned wide as Nikki pulled him up from the wooden floor and the boy was then hugged, less aggressively, by Neil, who patted him on the back.

“Oh my god Neil, have you gotten even taller?” Max chuckled cheekily, staring at the boy in front of him, who was dressed in a red wool sweater, dark blue rolled up jeans and yellow converse high tops.

“And the specs!” Max snorted, pointing at the black horn rimmed glasses perched over Neil’s large nose, Nikki giggling behind him.

“Hey, watch it mop head! Least I grew after the age of eleven!” Neil laughed, Max’s smile dropped and he frowned grumpily.

“Fuck you.” Max barked, the two boys looked at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.

“Nikki! I can’t believe you’re wearing a fucking dress!” Max said, poking Nikki’s silver septum ring, the girl wiggled her nose giggling.

“Yeah it sucks! Mom made me wear it for today!” Nikki said gesturing to the black denim pinafore and the striped T-shirt she was wearing underneath it.

“We missed you so much Max!” Nikki jumped up and threw an arm around each of the boys' necks and dragged them into a group hug. David and Gwen walked into the hallway to see the three kids in a laughing huddle. The two smiled to each other.

“Hey kids!” David cheered.

“DAVID! GWEN!” Nikki launched forward into the two adults, hugging them. Gwen and David laughing and patting her back.

“Hi guys.” Gwen grinned.

“Neil, you’re even taller than you were this summer!” David beamed, standing next to Neil and comparing their heights. The teen smiled sheepishly.

“Got some catching up to do, Max!” Gwen laughed.

“Shut up Gwen.”

“I like the shaved side, Nikki.” Gwen grinned, rubbing the side of Nikki’s head where she shaved an undercut into her hair. Nikki grinned.

“Eh yeah, I actually just got gum stuck in it, but it looks cool thankfully!” The small girl beamed.

“Come on in guys, you must all be hungry! Max do you wanna show these two to your room?” David chimed, running into the kitchen to turn the oven on and flick the kettle on too.

“Come on guys, I’ll show you.” Max smirked, picking up Neil and Nikki’s bags and carrying them into his room, the other two teen’s following after him.

Setting down their bags at the door of his room, Max flung himself on his bed, the other two looking at each other and then flung themselves onto Max’s bed too. Neil and Nikki both looked around the room, at the various posters of pop punk bands and superheroes on Max’s wall, the blue and green tie dye sheets on his bed and the dark maroon carpet littered with a few t-shirts, a pair of jeans and Max’s red vans. Max quickly got up and picked up the clothes from the floor, shoving them into his laundry basket across from the wardrobe.

“Aw, he tidied for us.” Neil mocked, in a cutesy voice. Max laughed and flipped him off.

“God I missed you guys.” Max grinned, sitting back down in between Neil and Nikki, Nikki throwing her legs over Max’s and Max turning around to lean against Neil’s knees.

The three chatted and caught up from over the past year, pointless stuff like how Nikki and Neil’s parents are still as gross and lovey dovey as always, Neil going into sophomore year, Nikki and Max going into freshman year, Nikki’s various sports teams, Neil’s science project and of course Max living with Gwen and David.

“So what’s it been like? Living with them?” Neil asked, nudging Max’s head with his knee to get the boy’s attention.

“It’s been...weird. Like good weird? Don’t get me wrong David’s still a pain in the ass and Gwen’s still got a temper but...it’s just like we all fit so well in the house together. Like it only took about a week before we were acting like we’d been living together for years...and anywhere is better than where I was before.” The teen replied, sitting up from his friend’s legs. Neil and Nikki gave each other a look of worry.

“But yeah, it’s been okay so far.” Max continued

“I think I’d be fun! I mean the camp wasn't great but I never minded David and Gwen as people.” Nikki spoke up, lightening the mood. Neil nodded his head in agreement.

“Yeah, but you’ve never had to get up and ready for school with the ever fucking chirpy David.” Max argued. Nikki laughed.

“Yeah I guess so, ah well sucks for you!” Nikki belted and the boys laughed.

Suddenly, David called through to the teenagers from outside Max’s room. The three ran in to find David standing in the living room and Gwen sitting on the edge of her seat, on the couch, both staring at the TV. The news was on and a warning was flashed up on the screen, displaying the words “STORM DUE TO HIT TONIGHT”. Max was about to ask what was wrong before he was shushed by Gwen and David, listening to the news. The three kids stood in a row watching Gwen and David. After a few seconds David turned to face the kids.

“looks like there’s gonna be a storm tonight kids.” David nervously spoke, but tried his best to be casual about it.

“It’s okay gang. We just have to batten down the hatches!” David yelped motivationally, turning to Gwen. Gwen nodded and clapped her hands together.

“Right, who’s ready for food? Because I’m starving.” Gwen announced, standing up next to David, being only slightly shorter than the tall man. The three teenagers raised their hands in respond, Max showing less enthusiasm than his two friends, one hand still in his hoodie pocket.

Gwen grinned, moving to the kitchen, followed by David. The kids sat down at the kitchen table, Nikki started some conversation about the ‘science’ of invisibility cloaks, Neil argued that it wasn’t science. Max sat and rolled his eyes at the two step-siblings.

Gwen and David got to work moving in unison, almost choreographed, moving around the kitchen and not missing a beat. They never once tripped or got in each others way, looking like something out of Morecambe and Wise: The Breakfast Sketch. David grabbed cutlery from the draw under the oven, which Gwen was putting the pizza’s into, the woman bumping the drawer closed with her hip, David slinging a tea towel into the girl’s hand as she closed the oven door, she twirled around to wipe the counter down with the towel and David picked up the objects placed on the counter as she wiped along it. Neil looked up from his argument with Nikki and watched, a little bit in awe at the two adults, the other two teenagers followed the tallest's gaze. They caught Gwen’s attention.

“What?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow. The three kids all looked off in different directions and pretended like they weren’t just watching her.

“Nothing.” Max dismissed.

___________________________________

  
Everyone gathered into the living room, satisfied with full bellies. Gwen and David sat on the thread bare couch, Nikki on the old leather chair and Max and Neil sat on the floor, their backs to the couch. After a twenty minute debate, the five of them finally picked a movie they all agreed on to watch on Netflix, Back to the future.

“I’m surprised you agreed to watch this, Neil. I thought you were more for proven factual science than a Sci-Fi movie.” David joked. Neil turned away from the TV to face the red headed man sitting on the couch behind him.

“Usually, yes. But Back to the Future is a classic. I used to watch it with my cousin when we were younger.” Neil replied.

“Plus time travel is fucking awesome.” Max added, making Neil laugh.

After about halfway through the movie, the winds outside started picking up. The apartment almost felt like it was rattling and the winds were rustling through the vent above the front door. One of the small plant pots David had hanging outside on the windowsill smashed. Max jumped when the pot hit the ground.

“Gosh, looks like the winds picking up pretty bad gang.” David observed. Just as he said that, the lights cut out and the TV silenced. The five of them sat in silence in the pitch black for a moment before realizing what happened. Nikki decided now was the right time to let out a blood curdling scream and almost give everyone else in the room a heart attack.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Max and Neil yelled in unison before Nikki burst out laughing.

David stumbled to his feet and carefully stepped around Neil and Max sitting on the ground (though accidentally stood on Max’s hand and received some foul language and a swift kick to the shin.) And grabbed onto Gwen’s shoulder. The man fumbled in his trouser pocket before pulling out his car keys and flicking on a tiny torch keyring hanging on them.

“Okay, don’t panic guys. I have tonnes of torches and stuff downstairs in the storage container in the basement. I just have to get outside and then go round the back of the building to the basement stairs and get them!” David chimed positively. Max scowled when David glazed the torch over him.

“I’ll go with you.” Gwen said, pushing herself off the couch.

“Ok thank you Gwen.” David beamed. Gwen could see David’s goofy grin in the dim light the small torch, she couldn’t help but smile back.

“No problem. Stay here kids, we’ll be back soon.” Gwen said. The two adults headed out the front door.

David led the way down the stairs of the apartment block, holding the tiny torch in front of him. He pushed the back door of the apartment building, it resisting with the strength of the wind and he was blasted with a gush of wind when he got it open. He sheltered Gwen from the gusting rain and wind with his arm as they ran round the back by what looked like a cellar door. David yanked back the doors, stopping at the top of the basement stairs. Turning around to Gwen and offering her his hand.

“These stairs are pretty old and the rains made them slippy, do you wanna hold my hand so you don’t slip?” he spoke loud, trying to be heard over the rain and wind.

Gwen smiled and nodded, taking hold of her friend’s hand. His hand was large and warm, despite the cold and he gripped her hand firmly like he wouldn’t dare let go. David led them down the stairs, having to grab Gwen’s hip at one point when she slipped on a bit of soggy moss growing on one of the steps. Gwen flushed and steadied herself, thanking David as he let out a small chuckle. The two stood in the damp basement in front of five big steel roller doors. David fumbled with his keys, the light from the torch hanging off them darted around as he shook the keys. The red head unlocked the steel door and squatted down, hooking his palms under the door. He paused before lifting it.

“Okay Gwen. This door’s really old so it doesn’t work properly, but if I hold it up you can run in and grab my camping gear. All the stuff is in a big red duffle bag in the left corner.” David spoke staring at the door. Gwen nodded and squatted to help lift the door.

“I’ll help lift it.” The woman smiled.

The two pulled the door up, almost pulling their arms out of the sockets. David shoved his shoulder under the door when it got about half way up and pushed it up further, holding it open for Gwen. He grunted quietly at the weight and smiled at Gwen.

“...Okay G-Gwen.”

“Are you sure it’s not too heavy?” Gwen asked worried about the freckled man.

“No no it’s perfectly fine.” David spoke, his voice wobbling. Gwen gave him an unsure look but figured it best just just hurry up.

Gwen ducked under the door and flicked the switch beside the roller door. No light. Gwen tried her best to search around in the dark but she couldn’t see anything, she needed to hurry up too, since the wind was battering on the basement doors.

“ Hey David, where’s that tiny torch you had?” The woman asked, peeking her head out from under the door to face her friend.

“Oh sorry, I forgot the lights broken, its in one of my pockets.” The tall man replied, still struggling with the weight of the door.

“Can you grab it? I c-can’t let go of the door.” He added.

Gwen blushed as she felt the outside of David’s front of the pockets on his jeans, before shoving her hand into the right one and grabbing the keys. The woman flicked on the torch and ducked under the door again, returning a few seconds later after some rummaging, with the red duffle bag. David grinned.

“Thanks Gwen.” He beamed and the two of them gently let the door down. David locked it back up and they made their way up the slippy basement steps and to the back door of the building again.

Returning to David’s apartment, the two adults flicked on two camping lamps placing one on the coffee table and the other in the kitchen, as well as two torches. David asked the kids to pull in the plant pots off the window sill and got Gwen to help him to lock up the windows and front door.

“So what now?” Nikki announced loudly. David and Gwen looked to each other as if to ask “Any ideas?”

“I’ve got some movies downloaded on my laptop, I think the battery’s charged too.” Neil spoke up.

“Okay Neil.” Gwen smiled. Neil went to get his laptop from his backpack.

David rummaged through the red duffle bag, he grinned as he pulled out a small orange pop up tent from it. He held it up to show Gwen, who rolled her eyes and smiled. The two of them pushed back the furniture in the living room and set the tent down, grabbing pillows and a throw off the couch and armchair and arranged them in the tent. Nikki squealed and jumped into the tent.

“It’s almost like camp again! Except there’s no nature so that sucks. but still!”Nikki cried.

“Fantastic.” Max mumbled sarcastically, before getting swatted on the shoulder by Gwen. The four shuffled into the cosy tent.

Neil came back with his laptop, booted it up and shuffled into the tent after everyone else, cuddling up in between Nikki and Max, Gwen and David on either side of the teenagers.

 ___________________________________

“Wow. she just passed out.” Max said picking up Nikki’s limp hand and letting it fall back down onto the girl’s sleep bag, located next to the door of Max’s room. The sleeping girl snored away, unresponsive to Max’s nudging.

“She does that all the time, I think she just burns herself out being that energetic all the time, unlike us, we’re like the human embodiments of snails.” Neil replied, making Max laugh, the teenager covered his mouth, trying not to wake his sleeping friend.

Neil rolled out his sleeping bag on the floor, in between Nikki’s sleeping bag and Max’s bed. Max pulled one of the pillows off his bed and placed it at the top of the sleeping bag, earning him a smile from Neil. The dark haired teen grabbed the torch David gave them off his bedside locker and stood up from his bed and opened the door, making sure not to knock Nikki’s head with it.

“I’m gonna brush my teeth.” The teenager spoke, Neil nodded.

Max went into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. The boy put the of the torch into his mouth to hold it as he unzipped his jeans and went to pee. He decided not to zip them back up after he was done, he’d be taking them off in a few minutes anyway. The boy washed his hands and brushed his teeth, then made his back into the hallway. He was going to open the door which was open by only a crack, when he saw a shadow cast from the crack into the hallway and he moved closer to see what it was. Max then realized he could see Neil getting undressed. The boy turned around embarrassed for a second, but for some reason he turned back and peered through the cracked open door.

Neil stood in the middle of the room, his belt and zip undone on his trousers, dark purple boxer-briefs poking out the top of his jeans. The teenager pulled off his sweater and whatever T-shirt he had underneath with it, over his head, revealing his chest.

Neil was no where near as skinny as Max remembered him from a year before. Not that Max could say anything, he was skinny too, but not on Neil’s level. Sure, Neil still looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie, but his chest was wider and his shoulders were broader. He didn’t look almost malnourished like he used to and his ribs weren’t sticking out anymore. The teenager had also grown chest hair since Max had last seen him. Not much, but a bit on his pectorals and under his belly button, on his lower stomach.

It wasn’t till Neil went to take off his jeans, hooking his thumbs in the waist band and Nikki letting out a loud snore, that Max jumped and looked away from his friend. What was wrong with him?Why was he staring at Neil? Neil was his best friend, what kind of creep was he for staring at his friend without him realizing? He’d seen Neil get dressed tonnes of times, they shared a tent every year at camp, so why was he staring at him this time? Max figured it best to to put it out of his mind and forget about it, adding it up to him being tired and it being a weird, emotional day.

Max mentally kicked himself, scowling and staring at the wood floor outside his door till he heard the shuffling of a sleeping bag. Max opened the door then when Neil was rolled up in his sleeping bag and walked back in the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Mind if I turn this off?” Max said, a bit more gruffly than he’d hoped, gesturing to the camping lamp, now the only source of light in the room.

“Eh, sure go ahead man.” Neil replied, placing his arms behind his head

Max flicked off the lamp and the room fell into darkness. The teenager then turned his back to Neil and Nikki, even though the room was completely black and they couldn’t see him. The boy stripped down into his underwear and crawled into his bed, pulling his sheets over him. There was silence in the room for a few moments.

“Hey Max?”

“Yeah Neil?”

“I’m really glad you’re okay."

"Eh, yeah, me too."

"Goodnight man."

Max smiled before replying.

“Night Neil."

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloweenie teenies and some Gwenvid angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Drew Barrymore - SZA
> 
>  
> 
> Leave comments on your thoughts!
> 
> Enjoy guys! X

THWACK!

Max awoke with a start, sitting up and panting for breath. The teenager was no longer in his dreams, but now sitting on his bed in his room, with his best friends snoring away beside him. The boy rubbed his face with his hands, wincing at a pain forming behind his eyes and slung his legs over the side if his bed, his bed sheets wrapped up around his waist and legs. Max checked his IPod, the time reading 5:04am on the screen. He peered down at his friends, asleep on the floor in their sleeping bags, unaware of the boys jolting wake. Nikki was sprawled out on her back, with her limbs at various angles, her hair knotted , T-shirt scrunched up and her mouth hanging wide open. The side of her head was getting a bit fuzzy and her face was more freckled since the summer, along with tan lines around her neck from a swimsuit strap. Meanwhile, Neil was lying on his stomach, his hands curled up under the pillow Max gave him. The teenager’s back and shoulders were scattered with acne and freckles, contrasting against his pale skin.

Max got up quietly, fumbling around for his hoodie and a pair of jeans, pulling the hoodie on with no T-shirt underneath. The teenager tip toed around the mess of limbs and objects on the floor and carefully opened the door, closing it behind him once he was in the hall. The boy padded down the wooden floor hallway in his bare feet and into the kitchen, finding his red haired foster parent sitting in one of the chairs at the table.

“Good morning Max!” David rejoiced, before Max shushed him and put a finger to his lips.

“Nikki, Neil and I’m pretty sure Gwen, are all still asleep, idiot.” Max whispered to the man. He knew David wasn’t capable of whispering, but maybe he’d be less loud this early in the morning, that would help with the headache banging against his skull.

“Oh, sorry.” David spoke low, quieter than before.

Max opened up one of the kitchen cabinets, pulling down a mug with a cat and a ball of yarn on it, and flicked on the kettle, next to the sink. Max frowned at the mug sitting on the counter. All of David’s mugs had designs like those on them, whether it be happy kittens or rainbows or flowers. They were mildly irritating to Max when it was this early in the morning, especially since they were clearly David's cups.

“Why do you always have shitty mugs?” Max snapped. The teenager didn’t mean to sound so annoyed but it came out that way. It wasn’t unusual that Max snapped at David anyway.

“Oh, well I guess it’s so you can start your day out right with a happy mug!” David beamed, holding up his own mug of tea, adorned with smiling honeybees on it. Max scowled at the man before continuing to make his coffee.

Max sat down at the table across from David, still wearing a scowl and hiding his eyes behind his curly black hair. David was happily typing away at his laptop, sipping his mug of tea. He gave Max a smile when he caught him glaring, Max scowled more.

“You could do with a hair cut, Champ.” David said eventually.

“No I don’t and don’t call me that.”

“What?”

“Don’t call me that.” Max could feel his temper rising, he was getting more and more irritated as he sat there next to his idiot of a foster parent.

“What? Champ?” David was slow to catch on.

“Yes. That.” Max snarled through gritted teeth. David looked up from his laptop with a worried look.

“Oh...sorry Max.” The man tried to make peace. Silence followed.

“Why don’t you make some cereal and go watch cartoons in the living room?” David spoke after a couple of minutes, trying his best to disperse the tension in the air.

Without a word, Max got up from the table and padded over to the cabinet, opening it and clattering a bowl onto the counter, slamming the cabinet, repeating this with the cereal, the milk and the spoon. David winced every time Max slammed a cupboard or smashed something onto the counter. The teenager finally, after a lot of noise, made his cereal and slinked into the living room with his bowl and mug, switching on the TV to Cartoon Network. Reruns of Ed, Edd n Eddy played on screen since it was still early in the morning. The curly haired boy sat down on the floor, leaning against the couch and shovelled spoonfuls of cereal into his, letting out an exhale whenever the cartoon amused him. Max could hear someone moving around in the kitchen but figured it was David and paid no attention, until Neil sat down on the floor next to him, making Max jump.

“Which one’s this?” the tall teenager asked, yawning.

“The one where the Ed’s help Rolf on his farm so he’ll give them money for jawbreakers.” Max replied with a mouth full of cereal.

“Aw I love this one.”

“Why are you up? It's six in the morning.” Max asked, shovelling more cereal into his mouth.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Neil replied, raising an eyebrow.

“I never fucking sleep. You know that. So why are you up?”

“Okay fair. I’m up because you were slamming shit around and woke me up.” Neil chuckled. Max frowned.

“Oh...sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine, I live with Nikki, she doesn’t understand the definition of quiet.” Neil replied, making Max laugh and feel the best he had felt since he woke up.

“Nik’s still asleep?” Max asked.

“Yeah, that girl can sleep through everything.” Neil replied rolling his eyes.

“Gwen’s the same, I almost feel bad for David, since he has to get her up every morning.”

“And David of course, probably never sleeps.” Neil whispered, pointing a thumb back at the kitchen where David was sitting, still tapping away at his laptop. Max laughed out loudly, causing David to stick his head up to see the two teenagers.

“What are you two giggling about?” David beamed, Max and Neil raising their eyebrows.

“Oh, nothing.” Max replied smugly. David closed his laptop, and got up from his seat in the kitchen.

“Do you guys have any idea what you want to do today?” David asked, walking into the living room, holding his mug of tea in two hands. The two boys looked at each other and shrugged. David grinned.

“Well, I had an idea! I saw pumpkins selling in the grocery store the other day. We could get some, carve them out, maybe make toffee apples? And we could go for a walk later?” The red haired man suggested to the two teenagers. Max softly smiled.

“Yeah, that sounds cool David.” The curly haired boy replied. Neil swung his head around and stared at Max in disbelief. Did Max actually agree to plans David had suggested? And not only agreed but agreed happily?

Maybe living with David and Gwen had made Max more positive.

“That sound good Neil?” David grinned, placing a hand on his hip. Neil nodded in agreement.

“Okay great! Why don’t you two wake Nikki and I’ll get Gwen up!” David cried, rocking on the balls of his feet and placing his mug on a coaster on the coffee table, bounding down the hallway to the room Gwen was sleeping in. Max and Neil slowly followed after, into Max’s room.

David knocked on Gwen’s door, opening it slowly when he heard no response. The man entered his room quietly. Across from the door was a double bed, which Gwen lay asleep in, she lay snoring away softly, her body slowly rising up and down under the comforter. David smiled softly at his slumbering friend before, slowly approaching her and putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Gwen, it’s time to wake up.” David spoke gently, squeezing the women’s shoulder slightly. Gwen mumbled incoherently in her sleep making David.

“Morning Gweny.” He spoke softly again.

Gwen remained asleep, mumbling away.

“Gwen, wakey wakey.” David spoke a little bit louder, shaking the woman a bit more forcefully.

Gwen’s eyes shot open, wide and bloodshot, and she looked around confused. She spotted David hovering over her with a big grin on his face and a waving hand. The brunette woman groaned and pulled her pillow up over her head.

“Good morning Gwen!” David cheered, earning another groan in response.

“We’ve got a big day ahead of us so get up and dressed sleepy head!” David rejoiced as he headed towards the door, closing it behind him after giving a wave to Gwen. Gwen groaned again before throwing her pillow across the room, hitting the door with it.

David set off cracking eggs into a bowl and flicking on the kettle, turning on the gas stove and grabbing the milk out of the fridge. He threw bread into the toaster and got out Nutella and jelly from the fridge , placing them on the table. He began pouring hot water into a jug of coffee and pouring himself a cup of tea, placing those on the table too. The red haired man then whisked the eggs and put them in a pan on the stove , scrambling them.

“Kids! Come get breakfast!” David yelled down the hallway from the kitchen. Soon after Nikki, Neil, then Max followed into the kitchen sitting down at the table.

Neil got out plates from the drawer as David asked and Nikki got out cutlery, Max grabbed glasses and orange juice from the fridge (which he was only able to reach from the top shelf on his tip toes.) David dished out the scrambled eggs onto five plates and then placed a big plate of toast in the middle of the table. The three teenagers launched forward into the food, grabbing what they could. David poured a cup of coffee into a mug with a daisy on it and splashed a little bit of milk and sugar into it, before taking it into the hallway and knocking on Gwen’s door.

“Come in.” Was a disgruntled response.

David opened up the door slowly and entered, closing it behind him. Gwen was sitting up in bed, holding her phone, wearing only a light pink string top and the bed sheets wrapped around her waist. Her scowl disappeared when she saw David had brought her coffee. The tall man handed Gwen the mug, grinning as she thanked him and took a sip, smiling to herself. The woman scooted over in the bed and patted the space beside her, David soon followed and sat down beside her on the bed.

“What are the kids up to?” Gwen asked, taking another sip of her beverage.

“Having breakfast.” David replied.

“I meant to go shopping yesterday, I hope they’re not scrounging for food.”

“No, they’re okay, I made eggs and toast, some for you too. Max has already had cereal this morning too.” David beamed to his friend.

“Fed the kids and made me breakfast too, you’re the perfect housewife David.” Gwen joked, throwing David a smirk.

“Why thank you Gwen! I guess I am pretty good with household tasks.” the man replied.

“I’m serious though. Thank you.” Gwen smiled up at her red haired friend, who grinned back at her. David threw an arm around Gwen’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug, almost making her spill her coffee.

“No problem Gwen! Now c'mon, your breakfast is gonna get cold.” David replied, letting go of Gwen and pushing himself off the bed, handing Gwen her dressing gown. Gwen pulled on the gown and followed David out into the kitchen.

Max was dangling the last piece of toast over Nikki’s head, while the girl tried to grab it from her friend’s grip. It wasn’t too long ago that Nikki was the same height as Max and she was dangling things over his head. Neil sat at the table, hunched over, shovelling eggs into his mouth and trying to ignore his friends causing havoc. Gwen sat down next to Neil and David placed her plate down in front of her. On the plate were two slices of toast with scrambled egg on it, two tomatoes and a sausage arranged in a face on the eggs. The woman cracked a grin at the cheesy gesture and David gave her a goofy smile back.

“So what’s happening here?” Gwen whispered to Neil, pointing a finger at Max and Nikki.

“Nikki wants the toast and Max won’t hand it over because he wants it. My money’s on Nikki, she’s pretty swift and she can jump pretty high.” Neil replied, shovelling another spoonful if eggs into his mouth.

“Mhm mhm yes, I think you’re right.” Gwen nodded.

“You don’t need the toast! I’m still growing. I need it!” Max rasped, pushing Nikki back by her forehead.

“Max we both know this is as tall as you’re going to get!” Nikki retorted, Neil laughed and Max threw him an evil glare.

“Fuck you, you’re not getting the toast!”

David then placed another slice of toast down on a plate in front of Nikki.

“Now you can both have toast.” David grinned and placing his hands on his hips. Max scowled as Nikki squealed happily and lathered her toast in Nutella.

“Alright gang! We’ll clear up breakfast and then get ready to head out!” David rejoiced, all three teenagers groaned in unison.

____________________________________

 

  
“I like this one!” Nikki yelled, trying to pick up a pumpkin half her size.

The five were at the grocery store around the corner, picking out pumpkins from the Halloween section. Nikki, of course, decided to pick out the biggest pumpkin in the section, which she couldn’t even lift, while Neil was holding a medium sized pumpkin in his arms and Max held up a small pumpkin in one hand, the two rolling their eyes at Nikki’s choice. Gwen was minding the three of them and making sure they didn’t start arguing or causing trouble, while David had run off to find golden syrup and sugar for toffee apples.

“Nikki you can’t even carry it.” Neil piped up, standing next to his step-sister, who was struggling with all her might to pick up the pumpkin.

“Alright, fine. I’ll go with second best.” Nikki spoke, defeated and picking up a smaller, but still large pumpkin.

“You sure you want that one Max? Its kinda small.” Gwen said, flicking the pumpkin Max was balancing on one hand.

“Yeah, I want it this small, that way it doesn’t take so long to fucking carve out.”

“You don’t have to carve one.” Gwen admitted. Max sighed.

“Yeah well, I’m pretty sure if I don’t then David might cry, and I can’t be fucked with that right now.” The teenager replied, dumping the pumpkin in the shopping cart and placing his hands in his hoodie pocket. Neil followed with his and Nikki struggled but eventually lifted hers into the cart too. Max disappeared for a minute and returned with a packet of gum, which he slung in the cart, he had been chewing gum religiously since he quit smoking.

David returned back with various jars and packets of things before placing them into the basket too.

“Okay gang are we ready?” David cheered, glancing over the three teenagers, who looked bored and tired.

He received grunts in response and took that as a yes, so the red haired man went to wheel the shopping cart away, before Gwen stopped it rolling with her foot. The woman placed two bottles of wine into the cart and turned to David.

“Those are for their fun-“ Gwen said pointing at the pumpkins and then at the three teenagers lurking behind David. “-and these, are for my fun.” Gwen finished pointing at the bottles of alcohol sitting in the bottom of the cart. David smiled sheepishly before nodding his head, and the five of them set off to the cashier desk.

Everyone packed up David’s car trunk with the food and pumpkins and Gwen’s wine. Gwen and David got into the front seats of the car and the other three piled into the back, with Max sitting in the middle.

“Seat belts everyone?” David announced, followed by various clicking of buckles. David turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot.

_____________________________________

 

“This is dumb.” Max snapped, stabbing his small pumpkin with the kitchen knife David had given him.

Neil and Nikki looked up from their own pumpkins, which Neil had been carving a picture of an atom into his, while Nikki was carving the “biggest, scariest pumpkin face ever”, complete with lots of jagged teeth and angry eyes. David was standing over the stove, wearing a white and pink checked apron, with a hand on his hip, stirring a pot of soon to be toffe. A tray of apples with popsicle sticks, sticking out the top, sat beside him. Gwen was opening up packets of marshmallows and chopped nuts into bowls on the counter.

“What’s wrong?” Neil asked, pausing from slicing into his pumpkin.

“This is just dumb I don’t want to do it.” Max scowled crossing his arms in front of his chest. The boy stared at the pumpkin in front of him. It was clear the teenager had attempted some kind of face for his pumpkin, but somewhere along the line it went crooked and he accidentally sliced off one of its teeth, and he hadn’t scooped the pumpkin guts out properly into the bowl David gave them. The chopping knife stuck out of its flesh at an awkward angle, and it looked more than wonky at this point.

“It’s okay Max, we can fix your pumpkin, there’s no need to get annoyed.” David reasoned with Max, still stirring the pot of toffee, and a hand placed on his side. Max scowled at his pumpkin, refusing to respond.

Neil glanced at Max before he moved forward and took the knife out of the top of the pumpkin, placing it beside it on the table.

“It’s not so bad, honestly. Just finished cutting out the eyes and we can put a candle in it.” Neil muttered to Max, who unfolded his arms and obliged, but continued to scowl.

Soon enough, all three pumpkins were finished and lined up in a row on the kitchen table. Gwen, one by one, took off the tops and lit candles with a lighter, placing them inside the pumpkins and replacing the tops on them, while David switched off the kitchen light. An orange glow fell over them, as the light cut out and the pumpkins flamed away, being the only light source in the kitchen.

“THEY LOOK AWESOME!” Nikki squealed, jumping up and down. Neil squinted at the pumpkins, forgetting he wasn’t wearing his glasses, while Max’s scowl slowly faded.

“Yeah I guess they look okay.” The dark haired boy admitted, allowing a small smile. David patted him on the shoulder and gave the boy a small smile, to which Max brushed off.

“You three, go stand beside the pumpkins, I wanna get a picture.” Gwen said holding up her phone and gently shoving the three teenagers forward.

The kids arranged themselves in behind the pumpkins, while Gwen and David both held up their phones, flashing pictures of the three. The teenagers all followed over to see the pictures on Gwen and David’s phones. Loading up a picture. Neil smiling awkwardly, Nikki grinning toothily, with her front tooth gap and all on display and Max showing a small smile. Neil towered over the other two, and was clearly hunching over a bit in the photo, while Nikki had her arm thrown around Max’s neck. They all looked genuinely happy and pleased, with smiles all around, even Max’s.

Gwen then called out that the apples were ready for dipping and Neil and Nikki followed her over to the stove, while David and Max held back.

“You have a lovely smile Max! you look so happy in the picture.” David smiled, still staring at the photo on his phone. Max ducked his head down, staring at his vans and fumbling with his hands in his hoodie pocket.

“Yeah I guess so..” the teenager replied, secretly smiling to himself. David gave the boy a pat of the back before gesturing to the apples, Max following his two friends over to dip them.

David admired the scene of the three kids and Gwen, dipping apples in toffee and in nuts and marshmallows, grinning to himself. He pulled out his phone, loaded the picture up again and set it as his phone screensaver, smiling at the picture once more.

______________________________________

  
Max, Neil and Nikki eventually went to bed around 1am. The three slumped into Max’s room, to pass out from exhaustion like they had the night before. David wasn’t sure about letting them stay up so late but Gwen assured it was a special occasion and they’re not little kids anymore. Soon enough, the quiet muttering of the three, silenced, and David and Gwen assumed they were asleep by that point.

Gwen took out the red wine she bought earlier at the grocery store, popping the cork off of it and searching through the cupboards for some wine glasses. The woman wasn’t surprised by the fact she couldn’t find any, knowing her friend wasn’t much of a drinker. Instead she settled for two normal glasses, holding the wine bottle by the neck, in one hand, and the glasses in between her fingers in the other. David was sitting in the living room watching the TV, some kind of nature documentary Gwen was sure. Gwen carried the wine and glasses as David turned around to face as she came in.

“Hey Gwen! Look at this, it’s-“ David stopped when he saw Gwen. The tall woman was standing in the entry of the living room, dressed in only a pair of pyjama shorts, a string top and an oversized blue plaid shirt. She was barefoot, her toenails painted a dark purple, and her long, tanned legs were bare. The woman held up the wine and glasses and gave David a cheeky grin, before rounding the couch and sitting down next to him. David’s eyes followed Gwen and his mouth remained slightly gobsmacked.

“Now, we can have wine.” Gwen spoke softly, placing the bottle and glasses down on the table. She poured a glass for herself and then held the bottle in front of David’s glass, wiggling it.

“No I probably shouldn’t.”

“Ah come on, we dealt with those three devil’s the past two days, you can allow your self a drink.” Gwen gave David a genuine smile. David smiled, held up the glass, while Gwen poured a good amount into it. The two held up their glasses to each other.

“Here’s to foster parents.” Gwen announced.

“And to Max.” David added, as they clicked to lips of the glasses together. They both took a sip.

Before long, they were down one bottle and starting to get giggly. Gwen ran in to the kitchen to grab the other bottle of wine, tripping as she leapt from the couch. David giggled as she got back her balance. She pulled out the other bottle from the cupboard and clumsily placed it on the counter. The woman shrugged off her plaid shirt and chucked it through the half wall at David, hitting him in the face with it. Gwen snorted and laughed aloud, getting a goofy grin off David when he pulled the shirt off his head. She returned back in with the wine and poured two more glasses, clinking the bottle and splashing it around a lot. The two toasted their glasses again, David taking another sip and Gwen taking a big gulp. It was clear the David wasn’t used to drinking since he had drank half the amount that Gwen had but was just about as tipsy as she was. Gwen nestled into the couch next to David and curled her legs up beside her. The woman smiled up to her friend, her eyes red and tired. David grinned back, giggling again.

“You know, I’m so glad I have you David!” Gwen slurred, throwing her hand up to cup the side of David’s face. The red haired man’s cheek was starting to grow patchy stubble on it.

David’s face lit up and a big toothy grin spread over his face, the freckles around his eyes scrunching up. “I’m glad I have you too Gwen.”

“I feel like, I couldn’t do this...without you. With Max and everything. Not without you. And with my dad and everything. You’re the best David.” The woman slurred once more resting her head on David’s shoulder.

David smiled. “I couldn’t have done this without you too Gwen.” The man rested his chin on Gwen’s head and gave her forehead a kiss.

Gwen looked up and met eyes with David for a moment, before she leapt forward and captured David’s face in her hands, pulling him forward into a kiss. David stood in shock for a minute, his eyes wide. After the shock faded and adrenaline set in, the red haired man melted into the kiss, placing one hand on Gwen’s side and the other on the side of her neck. Their lips moved together and the kiss deepened, lips getting more chaste and erratic. Gwen laced her fingers through David’s dark amber hair, and her other hand placed on his chest. David pulled Gwen closer to his body, a blush rising against the freckles on his face.

But a small voice niggled at the back of David’s mind, growing louder and louder with each kiss.

“Don’t do this. She’s drunk. You’re taking advantage of her.”

David leapt back, breaking the connection between them. He sat back on the couch, Gwen staring at him in confusion, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

“What’s wrong?” Gwen asked, her face plastered with concern.

“Nothing! It’s okay! It’s just...you’re drunk...I don’t want you to regret this in the morning.” David mumbled, avoiding Gwen’s eyes. Gwen stared at him for a moment, before slumping her shoulders and getting up from the couch. She picked up her plaid shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Sorry...I just...sorry... I should go to bed. Goodnight David.” Gwen stammered, then slumped into the hallway to her room.

David watched Gwen as she left the room, staring at the entrance to the hallway where she disappeared.

It’s not that he didn’t want to kiss her, he did, but it just happened so suddenly and Gwen was drunk and so was he, and he wasn’t used to drinking much, the most he’d have would be some mulled wine at Christmas at his mom’s house with his family. When Gwen had kissed him he’d felt sparks fly, but he didn’t want it to just be some drunk mistake she’d made, that she’d regret the next morning.

But then maybe she wouldn’t regret it. The saying drunk words, sober thoughts comes to mind. Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing. And now that David had turned her down maybe she’d never try it again. Maybe she took it as unrequited feelings and now Gwen would just try forget about it.

David put his head in his hands. “What have I done?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Violet - Bad Suns
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> Let me know what you thought of this chapter friends x

“Look, buddy. I know this is hard, but the sooner we get over this first session then it’ll be so much easier after that.” David spoke softly, staring sympathetically at the teen sitting next him.

David’s old station wagon was parked up outside the therapist’s office. Today was the first day of Max’s six month course of therapy sessions, technically the second since the first one, Max managed to dip out of going to. The teenager wanted desperately to be anywhere but where he was right now, sitting in the passenger seat of David’s car, with said person, with his arms crossed and an unsettled, nauseated feeling deep in his stomach. Max would love anything more than going into that office and be forced to talk about his ‘feelings’ with probably some middle aged woman with three kids and a mini van, with shit tonnes of certificates in child psychology on the wall, and an attitude that screamed “We all get a little sad sometimes, let’s try some deep meditation and mindfulness.” 

Max was not about that life.

The only good thing Max could think of out of all this was that he got to leave school early.

“I’m not going in.” Max insisted, tightening his crossed arms around his thin frame. For the first time since the night he ran away, Max felt genuinely vulnerable.

David sighed and patted Max’s knee beside him, the boy tensing slightly when David touched him. Regardless of these sessions being mandatory, as Max’s social worker put it, David wanted Max to go to them. The teenager had been through a lot during his childhood, a lot that David didn’t know. He just hoped that maybe Max being in an environment where he could talk to a stranger might be easier to get his thoughts out in the open.

“...Max if we don’t do this it might cause some problems with Ms. Pritcher.” David spoke slowly, still trying to catch the teens eye. Max didn’t respond.

“You know I’d never make you do anything you didn’t want to-“

“Eh, what the fuck would you call camp then?” Max retorted, refusing to look at David and staring out the window at a plastic bag caught on a fence, blowing in the breeze.

“That was different...this is...this is to help, Max. This is another step to getting away from your parents. Physically, you’re away from them, yes. Mentally, you need to be away from them too. You’re never going to be fully okay until we address what happened and try and work towards fixing it.” The red haired man pleaded. His hand was placed back on Max’s knee, he could feel the hairs on Max’s knee standing up through the ripped hole in his jeans.

No response.

“...What if, afterwards, we order Chinese and have a movie night. You pick the movie, as long as it’s nothing too violent and you, me and Gwen can have a cosy night in.” David reasoned.

“...Can the movie be an 18’s?” Max replied, his interest peaked.

“It can be a 16’s.”

“Can it be a probably-should-be-18s, 16s?”

“...okay.” David replied, while Max turned around and cracked a small smile at the man. David smiled back.

“I’ll even make cookies!” David beamed.

The two opened up their cars doors and clambered out. Max threw his back pack over one shoulder and pulled his hoodie collar up closer to his chin, shivering against the cold air. He needed to start remembering his coat for once. David walked up to the big windowed steel door and pulled it open. He stood back and gestured for Max to go ahead of him, and followed the teenager after into the office.

 __________________________________

Gwen had her legs crossed and tapping her nails against the plastic chair she was waiting in. She felt more than uncomfortable, what with being dressed in knee-length pencil skirt that was a bit too tight and a fluffy purple blouse she had borrowed from a friend a few months ago, which she was now sweating considerably in. The room was very warm, but then maybe that was just Gwen, since the woman sitting next to her was wrapped in a thick knit jumper. And since when did her hands get clammy?

She been there for the guts of an hour, waiting for her name to be called, so she could enter the door she was sitting a few feet away from, shake the hand of some old man in a suit and hopefully bullshit her way into a job. A few other women had gone in before her, all coming back out looking nervous and a bit unsettled. Gwen wasn’t looking forward to it.

Gwen began to fan herself with the magazine she was reading from the designated pile in the room. She gave a weak smile to the woman next to her, when she looked up at Gwen.

“Gwendoline Martinez?” A man announced to the two women. He was tall and younger than Gwen thought he’d be, maybe in his early thirties. He wore a pinstriped black suit and a deep red tie, and wore matte black shoes. His dark brown hair was styled in a 1930s undercut, the rest of his hair slicked back with wax. His voice was deep and warm.

Gwen stood up rather flustered and stuck her hand out to the man. He chuckled a bit and took Gwen’s small hand and shook it. He introduced himself as “Mr. Williams” and placed his hand on the small of Gwen’s back as he gestured her into his office. He sat down in a big leather chair behind an oak desk, gesturing to the seat in front of it for Gwen to sit. She obliged.

“So, Gwendoline-“

“Sorry, it’s Gwen...Sir” Gwen corrected nervously. She fiddled with her hands in her lap, playing with the small gold ring on her right index finger.

“Sorry, Gwen. And please, call me Gareth.” The man smiled warmly. His voice was charming and gentle. Gwen smiled, feeling strange and uneasy.

“I wanted to ask you a few questions about your previous experience and why you think you’d like to work with us here at Berggot & Co.” Mr. Williams asked. Gwen nodded slightly.

“So what previous job experience do you have Gwen?”

Gwen thought for a second. She wasn’t even sure why she was at this interview. The job position was for the secretary at a big law firm. She had no experience in secretary duties and even less in law. How was seven years at a kids summer camp and a summer job as a waitress in a small restaurant in any way equivalent to a secretary job?

Gwen was more than out of her depth.

“W-well, in previous jobs I have taken on duties such as dealing with clients, filing paperwork, taking phone calls, organizing events, etcetera. I value work ethic and determination more than anything in the work place along with a positive attitude and a friendly demeanour.” Gwen stammered, trying her best to bullshit as much as she could without lying or revealing her actual previous jobs. Gareth chuckled and grinned, flashing a big set of pearly white teeth. Gwen tried to swallow hard. When did her throat get so dry?

“And what do you think you can bring to this job?” Gareth spoke coolly, crossing his leg over his knee and placing a hand on his chin to rub his stubble. He was looking Gwen up and down, as if examining something under a microscope.

Gwen swallowed hard again. “I think I can bring new ideas to the table, bring an organized way about this job and hopefully make some good friends along the way.”

The talk man grinned with arrogance. “Excellent.” He coaxed.

The man stood up from his chair and crossed around the desk, leaning against the big oak table, next to Gwen’s seat. He smiled down to her, flashing his teeth again. He held out a hand to Gwen before speaking.

“Congratulations, I’d like to give you the job Gwen.”

Gwen sat in shock for a few minutes, staring up at the man before her. She slowly put out her hand to his and shook it gently, still confused and unsure of what to say. Years of applying for jobs and countless amounts of interviews and tears, she finally got a job...as something the farthest away from any experience she had.

“Really?” Gwen squeaked, scared it might be some cruel joke. The dark haired man laughed and nodded.

“Yep. I think you’d be a great addition to the team Gwen.” The man winked at Gwen, who blushed deep red.

“T-thank you. So much, thank you! You’ve no idea how grateful I am.” Gwen grinned, her excitement gaining. The man chuckled before placing his hand on her back again and picking up Gwen’s black handbag for her, gesturing her towards the door.

Gwen took the hand bag from Gareth and pulled the strap around her shoulder. She couldn’t stop grinning. She hadn’t been this happy since she found out that the twilight books were being made into movies. Gareth opened the door for Gwen and stuck his hand out once more.

“We’ll see you next Monday then.” Gareth smiled, warm and genuine. Gwen grabbed his hand and shook it enthusiastically and thanked Gareth before exiting the man’s office.

Gwen waited till she had rounded the corridor and was out of sight before she did a happy victory dance and let out a noise of excitement. She yanked her phone out of her handbag, tapped into her contacts and held the phone to her ear eagerly.

“Hey! David! Guess what, you’ll never believe what just happened.”

______________________________ 

  
**_Max-b has logged on._ **  
**_Neilstein has logged on._ **

M: hey man

N: Hey, how was therapy?

M: it was

M:fine

N: Good fine or bad fine?

M: just fine.

N: Was the therapist okay?

M: yeah 

N: And do you think you’ll want to go back again?

M: yeah

N: Great :)

M: you home now?

N: Yeah I’m home, I missed the bus so I’m late back

M: how come you were late

N: ...I may have been doing extra time in the labs at school.

M: ahaha fuckin nerd

N: Fuck you!

M: fuck you too!

M: nikki home?

N: Nah she’s at football practice

M: oh cool, well I can get the bus to your house and we could play video games or something?

N: Yeah man :)

M: sweet be there soon :)

 **_Max-b has logged off._ **  
**_Neilstein has logged off._ **

 

_______________________________

  
“Hey man.” Neil grinned as he pulled open the door and Max stepped into the hallway.

Neil’s house was a big three-story house, on a nice street about a twenty minute bus ride from Max. Neil’s dad somehow got picked up for a kids TV show with his ‘Sockrates’ puppet and ended up making a lot of money off of that. Max reckoned that was why Nikki’s mom had stayed with him so long and why they ended up getting married. Although, Neil’s mom was less than happy how things panned out and it caused some more issues between Neil’s parents, which Max knew got to Neil more than he’d ever admit.

The hallway of his friend’s house was long and wide, painted with random pieces of ‘abstract’ art and fancy red carpet. The walls were littered with various photos of Neil and Nikki, separately as kids and then together in photographs as they were growing up. Some showing Neil with the braces he had when he was fourteen and some with Nikki with her cast when she broke her arm at the age of twelve. Among the photos where professional shots of Neil’s dad and Nikki’s mom, in various poses, such as both of them dressed in jeans and white shirts, with Carl hugging Candy around the waist and Candy laughing, and the two of them partially nude covered by red roses. As much as Max found the photos gross and cringey, he felt a pang of anger, since his parents had never bother putting up pictures of him.

Max followed Neil into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Neil flicked the kettle on to make coffee for him and Max, and padded over the pantry to check what there was food-wise.

“I can make ramen?” Neil said holding up a packet to Max.

“Yeah okay.” Max grinned

Neil pulled out two bowls from a cupboard and kicked the door closed with his foot, almost stumbling backwards. Max laughed and Neil gave him the finger awkwardly with a bowl in his hand.

“God you’re clumsy.” Max laughed, following Neil over to the counter.

“Least I’m not short.” Neil retorted in a melodic voice. Max growled.

“Hey! I’m not short. I just haven’t hit my growth spurt yet, unlike you, fucking Godzilla.” Max snapped. Neil burst out laughing, his voice nasally and contagious, Max couldn’t help but smile too.

“Okay fair, I’m too tall, but at least I can reach the top shelf of the fridge.” Neil grinned. Max stared Neil in the eye before marching towards the fridge and yanking the door open, and fumbled at the top shelf on the fridge, trying to stand on his tippy toes. He just about made the height of the top shelf. Neil laughed as Max shut the fridge and padded over to his friend.

“Ha!” Max said as he waltzed over cockily.

“Okay fine, you’re not as short as I thought.” Neil said defeated.

“But you’re still a mop head.” He added. Max frowned and punched Neil’s arm lightly, with Neil letting out a small whimpering noise.

“Go jack it to Einstein, dick.” Max retorted, not being able to keep a straight face.

“Well hey you match Einstein with your stache.” Neil laughed.

“Shut up, nerd.”

The timer on the stove beeped and Neil pulled open a drawer and produced from it a colander. The tall teen held the pot over the colander in the sink and drained the ramen, before putting it in two bowls for himself and Max. Max thanked him and they both went up to Neil’s room to play video games.

Neil’s room was bigger than Max’s, which made sense from the size of his house. The teenagers room was spotless, unlike Max’s which was usually messy, with dirty clothes lying on the floor and old mugs on his bedside table from when he was drinking coffee in his room. Gwen was always on him about cleaning his room, but David always cleaned it for him when he was off work. Various science orientated posters covered the walls and the teens desk was littered with test tubes, beakers and various apparatuses. There was a picture frame on Neil’s beside table, containing a photo of himself, Max and Nikki at camp a few years back. Max felt his chest lurch when he saw the picture. The two pulled the pillows off of Neil’s bed and propped them up against the side of the bed on the floor, so they could sit and face the TV.

“Nice bedsheets.” Max smirked, glancing towards the faded Spiderman sheets on Neil’s bed. Neil picked up his pillow to hit Max with.

“Shut up, they’re old!” Neil laughed.

“No offense, but your games suck, man.” Max said, flicking through a box of video games placed next to the TV in Neil’s room.

“No they don’t!”

“Tiger Woods? Really?” Max smirked holding up the game to his friend.

“That was a shitty present from my uncle last Christmas.” Neil defended.

“Okay, at least you have GTA.” Max said pulling out a different game.

He booted up the PlayStation and Neil handed him a controller. They both started playing the game, the sound of gun shots and blood splatters resonating from the TV. Max placed the ramen in his lap and shovelled it into his mouth with a fork, Neil doing the same. Awhile passed as the two laughed and played their game, talking about general things like school, Neil’s science project, how Gwen and David are.

Silence fell upon the two, both distracted by the game. Neil looked over at his friend, who was absorbed in running over hookers and losing the police in a virtual car. Neil sat up and put his control down beside and turned to Max, the boy before him caught his eye and looked up at him.

“What?” Max asked.

Neil hesitated, trying to think of what to say “...Why didn’t you tell us?” Neil spoke quietly, looking down at the carpet he was sitting on.

“Tell you what?” Max asked confused, still eating his ramen.

“Tell us about your parents, what was going on at home.” Neil was fidgeting with the hem of his T-shirt. Max put down the bowl. Max stared at Neil in disbelief for a few seconds, he didn’t expect it.

“C’mon Neil. That shit never mattered at camp. Our parents weren’t there, so it’s not like I needed to.”

“That’s not true. I mean we knew they were shitty parents, they never showed up to parents day and were late picking you up...but we never thought they were...” Neil trailed off. The teenager was still fidgeting with his T-shirt still and wasn’t looking at Max, but then Max was hiding his eyes under his curly nest of hair.

“It was fine. I had it handled.” Max hissed.

“Well, I thought we were friends Max. Friends tell each other that shit. I told you everything about me, you never told me anything about your family life.” Neil said, his voice gaining. He had stopped fiddling and was staring straight at Max in desperation. He felt so helpless and angry, for many reasons.

“I never told you that shit because no one wants to hear it Neil!” Max snapped his voice getting louder. Max could feel his temper rising again, he could feel his face and ears going red and his fists balling up, his nails digging into his palms.

“We could’ve helped you before now though!” Neil retorted back. “We could’ve prevented so much shit.” Neil could feel his eyes stinging, and blinked a few times, trying to keep back tears. Max was physically shaking, his fists clenched.

Suddenly, Max erupted in rage. “You wanted to fucking help me!? Don’t lie Neil. No one wants to fucking hear that shit! No one wants to know I was getting beaten by my fucking dad. No one wants to know my mom abandoned me. No one wants to know I used to get cigars put out on my fucking arms and that I’ve broken more bones than any kid my age! Don’t fucking lie to me!” Max yelled, yanking up the sleeves of his hoodie to show cigar burned welts and stitched up scars on his fore arms. Neil gasped quietly in shock and his face was painted with horror.

Max stood up from the floor and snarled, knocking over his bowl. He cursed loudly and grabbed his vans from beside Neil’s door, struggling to pull them on without tying the laces. The teen grabbed his backpack and yanked open Neil’s bedroom door, stomping down the hallway and down the stairs. He rushed past Nikki on his way out and stopped. Max looked at Nikki and his face crumbled and before she had the chance ask what was going on, he ran past her, his head ducked down. He yanked open the front door and ran out. Neil followed down the stairs, tripping on the last step and stared at the open front door from down the hallway, while Nikki stared at him with the most confused expression.

“What happened?” Nikki asked quietly.

 

_____________________________

  
Max could feel his heart beating in his ears and his fists clenched so hard that his nails dug into his palms. His teeth were clenched and didn’t know which direction he was going, he just marched straight out of Neil’s house. He ended up heading down a small wood path off the to the side of an urban estate. The path was filled with trees, bushes and flowers, overgrown with foliage.

How could Neil say that?

After all that happened, how could he do that?

Max didn’t tell anyone because he knew it would raise hell and cause a fuss. He knew that if he told anyone at camp what it was like at home, and if it blew up, his parents would not be happy with him and things would’ve gotten worse. But then the reason he ran away was because things at home got worse anyway.

Maybe Neil was just trying to help though?

Maybe he was just upset because Max had gone through so much that could’ve been fixed?

Max yelled out and pulled his fist out of his hoodie pocket, reeling it back and punching a near tree trunk. The teenager then was consumed with pain and pulled back his fist to examine it, all cut and bloody. Max cried out in pain and then kicked the trunk, lighter this time, before collapsing down to sit next to. He hadn’t noticed how far he had walked, but he now could no longer see the housing estate. The trees above him had grown so wild and freely that they almost created a sheltered arch around Max, and it didn’t seem like many people came down there.

“Ah fuck.” Max hissed when he looked at his busted up knuckles, his hand shaking slightly in shock.

Max sat next to the tree for awhile, trying to calm himself down, while nursing his injured hand. The teen reached into his bag and fumbled around for a minute, pulling out his inhaler with his good hand. He shook the cartridge, before puffing it, the yelling had made his chest tight and he needed a cigarette, but settled for two sticks of gum since he had none. The teenager lay back, knowing he’d get his clothes dirty and twigs in his hair, but he couldn’t care less. He was exhausted and It had been awhile since he’d felt like this.

He felt worn. Fed up. Tired. He didn’t ask for all this. Was it so much he just got to have a normal boring life? Why was it he was always fighting something? Whether it was his parents, David, himself and now Neil. Why couldn’t it just stop. Freeze. Stay still for a little while. Just while Max caught his breath.

Max sat up, still holding his right hand tight in pain. He reached up and ruffled the twigs and leaves out of his hair, brushed himself down and picked up his backpack. Max looked around, taking in his surroundings. Ahead of him, there looked to be a clearing far away in the distance. Max squinted towards the direction and figured it was better than going back the way he came, so he carried on walking.

After what felt like twenty minutes, Max finally came to the clearing. It was a small area of the woods, with sun beams shining through the tree tops and moss carpeting that forest floor. Forget-me-not flowers littered the moss and leaves rustled lightly in the breeze. A few meters away to the left of Max, stood what looked like a wood bunker but on further inspection the teen realized it was an old withered shed. Moss was growing on the walls and the windows were fogged with dirt and dust. Max pulled his sleeve of his hoodie over his left hand and rubbed the window and tried to peer in. It looked empty apart from a, small, old wood table and a stool, covered in cobwebs.

“What the hell?” He said to himself quietly.

Max inspected the door and realized the shed was closed with a big rusty padlock, that looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. The teenager gave the lock and shake and since it didn’t budge he turned his attention else where.

Max set off in the opposite direction in which he came and kept walking until he got to an opening in the trees which lead him into a different housing estate. While walking out of the estate he realized he’d pretty much just walked himself back home, since the apartment was only around the corner. Max was confused about where exactly he’d spent his afternoon and how exactly he got there after storming out of Neil’s house, but he shook his head and decided he’d spent too long trying to figure out stuff in the past day and figured he was better off going home and not using his brain for awhile.

The curly haired boy made his way up the apartment block stairs and opened his backpack, wincing at the pain in his right hand when he tried to pull out his keys.

Max opened the door finally and dragged himself inside the apartment.

 

_________________________________

  
“That’s amazing Gwen!” David grinned.

He grabbed his friend around the waist and hugged her tight, then picked her up and swung her around. Gwen laughed and blushed when David put her down, the male rubbed the back of his ginger hair as his cheeks turned pink. Since the night of the drunken kiss, neither Gwen or David had mentioned it and both still felt slightly awkward around each other. Neither felt comfortable mentioning it.

David was about ask Gwen more about how the interview went when the lock turned in the door and Max fell in the door, looking haggard and like he’d been to hell and back.

“Oh my gosh, Max what happened to you?” David cried, bounding over to the small teen, Gwen hurriedly following.

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“You’re covered in mud and there’s leaves in your hair.” David exclaimed, reaching out and picking a leaf out of Max’s hair. Max tried to swat him away but winced when he moved his right hand. Gwen frowned and bent down next to him.

“What the fuck happened to your hand Max?” Gwen began, gently picking up Max’s hand in her own. Max yanked his hand back in pain.

“Nothing...I fell.”

“Max.”

“...I punched a tree.”

“Why did you punch a tree? I thought you were at Neil’s and Nikki’s house?” David questioned, taking Max’s back pack from him.

“I was...but I left, because... Neil and me had a fight and I got mad and punched a tree and now my hand’s fucked.” Max seethed at Gwen tried to examine his hand.

“What did you have an argument about?” David asked.

“Nothing...I mean. I don’t want to talk about it.” Max muttered, staring down at his red vans and muddy knees poking out through the holes in his jeans. Gwen went to object but David placed a hand on her shoulder.

“...Okay, But if you decide you want to talk about it then you can come to us Max.” David finished, holding Max’s shoulder. Max nodded, avoiding eye contact.

“C'mon, I’ll fix up your hand.” Gwen said softly, leading Max into the kitchen.

Gwen gestured the teen to sit up on the kitchen counter, while she searched around in a cupboard. She produced a first aid kit in a green plastic box and placed it down next to Max on the counter. She picked out a cotton ball and opened up a bottle, swigging the ball against the bottle and held her hand out to Max’s and he placed his smaller, bloody hand against hers. The woman dabbed the boy’s knuckles with the cotton ball and he winced at the stinging sensation. Gwen whispered “Sorry” before pulling out a roll of bandages and gently wrapping it around the boy’s hand. David was meanwhile making tea and brought two mugs over to the pair and placed them down on the other side of the counter next to Max.

“Can you do this?” Gwen asked flexing her knuckles open and closed. Max copied her, wincing and muttering “Ow fuck.” But being able to move his hand regardless. Gwen smiled to the teenager.

“Well you didn’t hit the tree hard enough to break your hand, so it should be okay.” Gwen admitted, and gently ruffling the boy’s hair. Max swatted her away with his good hand, with a small smile. He thanked the two of them before saying he was going to go to his room for a bit. The two adults looked at him in worry but said “Okay.” And let him go into his room and close the door behind him.

“I hope he’s okay.” Gwen said, turning around to face David.

“He will be, he’ll sort things out with Neil, they’re best friends.” David reasoned, placing a hand on Gwen shoulder. Gwen smiled and pulled David into a hug. David looked at but shocked at first but didn’t object, so he threw his arms around Gwen’s shoulders and she hugged his thin middle.

“What was that about?” David asked.

“Nothing. Just...we have a good kid.” Gwen replied. David smiled.

“Yeah. We do.”

________________________________

  
Neil sat on the end of his bed, his room dark. It’s not that he didn’t turn on the light, rather that it was light outside when he sat down and he’d been there thinking for so long that it had gone dark around him.

Did he do the right thing? Asking Max why he didn’t tell him about home? He just wanted help, and he was, admittedly, angry that Max didn’t tell him. If he had have known...he could’ve done so much more. Max wouldn’t have gotten so beat up, he could’ve gotten away from his dad sooner, he wouldn’t have been hurt so badly.

Was he wrong to be mad? Being mad at Max wasn’t something he wanted to be. But then maybe he was mad at the situation, and that he felt helpless and that he didn’t protect his friend when he needed him most. Maybe he was mad at himself, and instead of doing something about his own guilt, he took it out on Max. And then Max ran out of Neil’s house and the teen hadn’t heard from him since. He didn’t even know if Max got back to David’s apartment okay.

Neil’s shoulders collapsed and he sobbed into his hands, the boy shook. He didn’t mean to do this to Max. He didn’t want his best friend to be mad at him. He just wanted to do more and not be so helpless. He just wanted to help Max.

Neil didn’t notice Nikki knocking on his bedroom door, until she opened the door and entered, closing it behind her. At first, Neil tried to tell her to go away and refused to face her, projecting his view out the window, which was pitch black outside. Nikki refused quietly and slowly moved towards her step brother, perching herself on the side of his Spiderman bedsheet clad bed. She placed her hand on Neil’s shoulder and the boy tensed up.

“Are you okay?”the girl asked quietly

“I’m fine, why do you ask?” The boy replied.

“Because you’ve been locked in here for hours and you're shaking.”

Neil hadn’t noticed his body vibrating and the fact that his heart was trying to beat out of his rib cage. His mind was took focused on something else.

“I’m...fine.” A lump formed in Neil’s throat and his voice cracked. The teen was trying so hard not to burst into tears again but it was proving difficult.

Nikki frowned and leapt forward, pulling her older step brother into a hug. She held him tight against her shoulder and although Neil would usually argue against hugging Nikki, he held her too and let out deep, dry sobs. Nikki patted his back and whispered “It’s okay. It’s alright” into the teen’s ear.

“I just wanted to help!” Neil cried into Nikki’s shoulder.

“I know, it’s okay.”

“And now he’s mad at me.”

“It’s okay, Max gets mad at everything, he’ll be fine soon.” Nikki reassured.

“But what if he isn’t, what if I’ve fucked our friendship up and he’s never going to speak to me again?” Neil sobbed harder. Nikki could feel her own chest hurting, just because she knew Neil only cried about stuff he really cared about, like when his granddad died, or when he lost the science fair in middle school.

“Neil, we’ve known Max for a really long time. We know that sometimes he’s irrational and stupid about shit and gets worked up, but we also know that after a few days he’s fine. When you brought up the stuff about his parents, it probably just reminded him of what’s going on in the back of his mind and got angry at that, rather than at you.” Nikki spoke strongly, pulling her brother back by the shoulders to face her. Neil face was red, his eyes were puffy and tears stained lines down his cheeks. Nikki gave him a weak smile before hugging him once more.

“It’ll be okay, and if not, I’ll straighten you knuckle heads out.” Nikki joked shoving her fingers into Neil’s curly afro of hair and rubbing her knuckles across his head. Neil laughed and batted her away.

“Thanks Nik.”

“Don’t mention it. Now let’s go watch the lion king!” Nikki squealed jumping up and grabbing Neil’s laptop, which was placed on his desk, and yanked open the lid. The two curled up and Nikki tapped Netflix into the search bar.

 _______________________________

  
David opened his eyes to the noise of static coming from the TV. The red haired man sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around his surroundings. He realized he must have fallen asleep while him and Gwen were watching a movie. Gwen had obviously gone to bed.

David turned off the TV and stood up, picking up the mugs and bowl that once contained popcorn, that the two were using earlier. The tall man carried them through to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. He pulled down a glass from the shelf and went to fill it with water until he heard small noises coming from the bathroom, down the hall. David poked his head out of the kitchen and saw the bathroom light was on and the door was open a crack.

“Ow! Fuck.” Came a whisper.

David, puzzled, made his way to the bathroom, knocking on the door before entering. Inside he caught Max by surprise, who jumped and dropped something in the sink, making it clatter against the porcelain.

“Max? What are you doing?” David asked, confused as to what Max was doing at this hour. He peered down into the sink and saw a razor, and some spots of blood against the white. David’s face dropped and he whirled around to face Max.

“Max! No please!” David cried, grabbing Max’s hoodie clad arm. Max yanked his arm back.

“What? I’m just trying to shave my fucking face.” Max yelled. David let out a relieved sigh, and chuckled a little.

“Oh. Sorry, I thought you were....never mind. Why are you shaving at this time?” David said, turning Max’s face and wiping away a spot of blood from the teenager’s dark skin with his thumb. Max batted his hand off.

“Because. I’m practicing.” Max mumbled.

“What? Why?” David queried, bending down to Max’s height

“Because I don’t know how to fucking do it David.” Max said a bit louder with an attitude. David’s eyebrows furrowed together and he looked away for a minute. The tall man then reached up to the cabinet above the sink and pulled it open, he grabbed a hold of a canister and brought it down along with another razor from a packet on the shelf. Max stared in confusion for a few minutes as David pulled open the can lid and shook it. David pressed the button on the can and fluffy white shaving foam spurted out of the can, into David’s palm. He then turned to Max and lead the boy around to face him with his empty hand, stooping down to his level. Max frowned and rolled his eyes at his foster parent but remained intrigued. David began to rub the foam around the bottom half of Max’s face, on his cheeks, chin and upper lip. The teenager glared are David as he did so until the man stood back up and repeated the process with his own face. David then plugged the sink and filled it with warm water.

“What the fuck is this for?” Max spoke aloud, staring at David in the mirror, who was applying the foam to his own face.

“So we don’t cut ourselves when we’re shaving.” David replied cheerfully. Max frowned.

“Oh.”

David picked up the razor Max was using and turned to the teenager again. He held the razor to one of Max’s cheeks before saying.

“Okay, don’t move, I don’t want to cut you.”

David gently ran a line down Max’s cheek, a smooth, tanned strip of skin against the rest of his foamy face. The man cleaned the razor under the warm water before handing it back to Max and picking up his own.

“Use that pressure on your face, that way you won’t go too hard but it’ll still cut the hair.” David smiled and faced the mirror. He gestured for Max to watch him as he did the same to his cheek, a pale smooth white strip appearing against the foam.

Max looked at the razor and then in the mirror and placed the razor to his cheek again. He drew a strip down his face. The foam did in fact help him not cut himself and it stopped the razor pinching his skin. Why didn’t know about shaving foam before now. The teenager copied every move David made on his own face,shaving his cheeks and chin, and eventually the dark hair on his upper lip. He winced every so often at the dull pain in his knuckles, but continued on. It was so much easier than anytime he’d tried to shave himself and he didn’t even cut himself. Until he finished shaving his chin.

“Ow!” Max yelled, then being shushed by David, since Gwen was asleep a few rooms over. David pulled out a box of plasters from the cabinet and unwrapped one. He wet a face cloth in warm water and pressed it on Max’s chin before placing the plaster on the small cut.

“Just a small nick.” David smiled, rubbing the remaining foam off his own face and then handing the cloth to Max for the same reason.

Max felt his face with his hands after and forgot how smooth his face used to be. Sure he’d shaved it before, but it’d be covered in cuts and not shaved properly. The teenager couldn’t stop rubbing his fingers against his cheek.

“Feel better now?” David grinned, rinsing the razors under the tap and putting everything back in the cabinet above the sink.

“Yeah, a lot better...thanks” Max muttered.

“No problem, now, off to bed with you buddy, you’ve got school tomorrow.” Max nodded and followed the tall man out of the bathroom. David patted Max’s back.

“Goodnight Max.”

“Night...David."

 

 ____________________________

 

Btw i made mood boards too if you're interested guys

[Max](https://pin.it/6yvyxdpoiunhtp)

[David](https://pin.it/an354vuxjtjyu3)

[Gwen](https://pin.it/3uv3x7towcpcn5)

[Neil](https://pin.it/jg6ci24oidm6xs)

[Nikki](https://pin.it/kaegrcmefkq5px)

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Baby don't dance - Mother Mother
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> • WARNING: Slight nsfw scene in this chapter •
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> So this chapter was originally going to be longer but I couldn't get round to finishing it since I've been so busy lately. so here's the jist of it, enjoy loves! X

“Nikki! Come on!” Max yelled. Nikki had been poking at a caterpillar that was climbing up a tree trunk, as Max called to her.

Max hadn’t forgotten about the old shed he found in the woods near his apartment, and come the weekend, he had texted Nikki to come investigate further with him.

“So what exactly are we doing here?” Nikki began, picking the caterpillar off the tree trunk and placing it on her shoulder.

“I told you, the other day when I left your house, I came down here into this forest and found this weird old shed thing. I want to get into it.” Max said turning towards his friend, who was feeding the caterpillar a leaf.

“How did you even find this place?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t looking where I was going and just kept walking and ended up in this forest. If you keep walking that way, it brings you back to my house.” Max pointed in the direction ahead of the two of them.

Nikki hesitated for a moment before she pushed a further question. “So...When are you and Neil going to make up.”

Max shivered against the cold wind and pulled the fur hood of his dark green parka, up closer around his neck.

“I dunno.”

“Well he really wants to.”

“If he wants to make up with me then why hasn’t he texted me or bothered to even fucking contact me in a week?” Max could feel his grip tightening around the straps of his back pack, placed on his shoulders.

“...Max you’ve not tried to text him either.” Nikki replied, cocking an eyebrow at her curly headed friend. Max scoffed and didn’t reply.

The two walked in silence for about ten minutes until they came to the same clearing in the forest as Max had a few days previously. Max pointed towards the old shed a few meters away and they both moved towards it. Max pulled his back pack off his shoulders, being cautious of his injured hand still. Unzipping his bag, Max pulled out a big pair of bolt cutters. Nikki frowned in confusion as her friend placed them under the lock on the shed door and chopped it off in one swift movement.

“Where did you get those from?” Nikki laughed.

“The basement, in David’s storage container.” Max nonchalantly tossed the busted lock aside.

The teenager pushed forward the shed door, with great force since it was nearly rusted shut. The door lurched open and clouds of dust burst out. Max and Nikki both spluttered and coughed, wafting the dust away. The two teenagers entered the shed cautiously, Max flicked on the torch from his iPod and shined it around the shed. It looked smaller on the outside than it was on the inside. The two batted away cobwebs and took a further look around. The shed was a pretty reasonable size, fitting the two teenagers in with more space to share. Small shelves lined the back wall of the shed, mostly empty, with a few old rusty tin boxes on the top shelf. Max kicked at the old wooden table and sat down on the stool, once he’d brushed it off with his sleeve. Nikki bent down next to Max, trying to make out something carved into the wall. The short girl brushed her mitten clad hand across the words, dusting away the dirt.

“Joe and the gang, 1968.” The girl whispered.

“Huh?” Max asked.

“Here. It says ‘Joe and the gang, 1968’” Nikki repeated, tracing the words with her thumb.

“Hey it says something here too.” Max leaned forward from the stool and brushed at a different part of the wall, dusting it off to read the markings underneath.

“Karen + Hector 4 Ever.”

“This one says ‘Jason was here 6/11/86’” Nikki piped up, rubbing at the wall.

“This is one fucking old shed.” Max muttering, looking up at the roof. The teenager noticed a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and frowned to himself.

“What the fuck?” he muttered.

Max stood up and pulled back the door a bit, feeling behind it with his left hand. He felt a small plastic box with a switch on it and clicked it, the light bulb above them flickering on.

“How does this place even get electricity?” Max barked, flailing his hand at the light bulb.

“I have no idea, but this place is cool!” Nikki grinned. “It’s like a secret den!”

“Hmm, yeah I guess it is.” The teenager started tapping at the walls around the shed and eventually found a spot the gave a hollow thud. The boy shook off his back pack again and pulled out his penknife and stuck it into the fine gap in the wooden walls. He managed to crack open the wooden panel and pull it from the wall, revealing a secret hidey hole. A box of matches, some old melted candles, a stack of magazines and a bottle of whiskey was inside.

“Aw fuck yes.” Max said pulling out the bottle whiskey, only to growl when he realized it was empty. The teen chucked the old bottle out the door of the shed, hearing it smash outside. Nikki pulled out the old magazines wafting away the dust and reading the covers.

“These are all either porn, train or car magazines.” Nikki said, spreading out the magazines on the floor.

“...Can I see some of those?” Max muttered, reaching towards a magazine with a pretty woman on the front of it. Nikki ignored him and stood up from the floor.

“I wonder what’s in these tins”

Nikki went to reach up to the tins on the shelves above them, but tripped on her boot lace and fell forward into the wooden table, pushing it forward and landing on her knees. A hallow sound emitted as she hit the floor.

“Nikki! Are you okay?” Max exclaimed, jumping to his friends rescue. The teen pulled Nikki up by the arms and the girl brushed the dust off of her knees.

“Yeah I'm okay.” The girl said, regaining her balance.

Nikki tilted her head to the side and stared at something on the floor from where she fell. Max followed her line of view to a small ring handle on the floor. The teenager kneeled down and grabbed a hold of it with his good hand. Max pulled the handle and a panel of the wooden flooring came up with it, revealing a trap door. The two stared down the trap door and Max shone his iPod torch down the hole in the floor.

“Stairs!” Nikki cried before leaping down the steps leading from the trap door. Max rolled his eyes before shoving his hands into his parka coat pockets and following his enthusiastic pal down the stairs.

The stairs led into a basement type area, empty and big. The two looked at each other in disbelief. Were they dreaming or was this probably the coolest secret den they could’ve ever found.

“We gotta make this place our secret den!” Nikki squealed, jumping up and down. Max grinned to her.

“This place is awesome. We gotta show Neil-“ Max’s face fell as he said the sentence. Nikki threw her friend a sympathetic look.

“...You could just both make up?” Nikki reasoned quietly. Max just shook his head.

Nikki sighed and headed back up the stairs, Max following after her. Max slotted the wall panel back in place and Nikki closed over the trap door and pushed the old table back in place, the two then gathered their things and walked outside. Max once again rooted in his back pack for an item, producing a new shiny padlock and closed it over the door latch.

“You’re like a mix of Mary Poppins and MacGyver.” Nikki quipped, making Max laugh and flipped her the middle finger.

Max brushed himself off and the two walked on towards Max’s apartment. Max tucked his hands into his warm parka and strolled along as Nikki jumped around finding more leaves for her caterpillar, which apparently to Max surprise she managed to keep sat on her shoulder the whole afternoon.

“Hey you shaved your face!” Nikki announced loudly, only realizing then and grabbing at Max’s smooth, dark cheek.

“Yeah I did. Get off, you freak.” Max muttered, pushing Nikki’s hand off. Nikki laughed and walked on, spotting something ahead of her.

“Oh I found some flowers for Kevin!” Nikki cried, running towards a rose bush near by.

“Kevin?”

“That’s his name!” Nikki said holding up the caterpillar in her mitten covered hand.

“Oh. I don’t think they eat those.” Max replied.

“Damn. I’ll stick with the leaves then.”

 

_____________________________

 

Gwen was cuddled up in the armchair, dressed in a cosy jumper and with a mug of tea at hand, reading a book. One of her usual trashy young adult romances, that she was probably too old to be reading since she was in her late twenties and no longer a teenage girl, awake till all hours of the morning reading novels of sparkly vampires and werewolves. She enjoyed them all the same though.

It’d appear to an on looker that she was invested her book when in reality, Gwen had actually been staring at the same book page for a good hour, deep in thought . She couldn’t take her mind off other things.

Such as David.

And how sweet and kind he is.

And how soft and gentle his lips were when he kissed her the other night.

It had been nearly a week since the incident and neither of the two had brought it up or made any attempt to discuss it. Gwen knew she was pretty drunk and of all times to kiss someone, then was not the time, but she knew it wasn’t just some stupid drunken thought that popped into her head. At least she thought it wasn’t. Through Gwen’s college years she had a bad habit of having one too many at parties and making some questionable decisions with some questionable guys. She figured at this point she was over it but then was this kiss with the same thing?

Her mind kept flashing back to the vague memory of how David looked in front of her, the faint glow from the TV against his pale skin. The dark flecks of freckles, speckled across his cheeks and nose. How the light caught in his long ginger eyelashes and his dark green eyes. Every time she thought about it, she felt her heart jump inside her chest and her breath catch in her throat, a deep yearning feeling within her.

But she felt so awkward around him since it happened. And especially since he stopped and turned her down. Gwen was never rejected before and she felt so embarrassed afterwards, more so because it was David. Her best friend. The person she shares custody of a child with. Her idiot co-worker. Things just felt so weird after and she was scared that eventually things would get too awkward to bare.

She didn’t want to dare think about what would happen then.

“...Gwen?”

“Huh?” Gwen jumped and looked up.

David was standing in the doorway of the living room, his hair wet, chest bare and nothing but a towel wrapped dangerously low around his hips. Gwen’s eyes widen and she sat up properly in her seat. She could feel her cheeks blaring heat.

“Y-yeah?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump.” David laughed. Gwen found it hard to concentrate on anything other than David’s sweet-as-honey laugh and the drips of water running down his chest.

“’s okay!” Gwen hurried.

“I just wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner? I can make chicken? Or something else?”

“I don’t mind!” Gwen was trying her best to look solely at David’s face.

“How’s chicken and veg sound then?” David asked, running and hand through his wet hair. Gwen followed the flecks of water that ran off down his arm with her eyes.

“Y-yeah good thanks!” Gwen stuttered. She needed to get out of the room. She could not concentrate like this. She was going to make things more awkward. Gwen jumped out of her seat and headed for the door where David was standing.

“I’ll help even! I’ll get the vegetables going!” the woman cried out, trying to move past her friend as fast as possible, But Gwen was yanked back by her hair, a sharp pain running over her head.

“Ow!”

“S-sorry! Your hair’s caught in my watch!” David exclaimed.

The tall man tried to unbuckle his watch, lifting his arms above Gwen’s head. She stood in the doorway, barely inches away from him. She couldn’t distract herself now, she was staring smack bang right at David’s water drop covered chest. She noticed that he wasn’t as skinny as he was at camp. It looked like he was actually gaining some muscle, and tufts of ginger hair stuck out on view from his underarms, as his limbs were in the air, attempting to unlatch Gwen’s hair from his watch. Gwen could smell his shower gel from him. Amber and sandalwood. Of course. She couldn’t get over how good he smelled and she wanted nothing more than for him to wrap his arms around her and be engulfed by his scent.

But instead her friend was frantically still trying to unlatch her hair from him. David’s face was a dark shade of red at this point and he was getting frustrated.

“This...darn thing!” He muttered. Gwen reached up to his arms and gently placed a hand on his.

“Here I’ll get it.” She said softly, taking a hold of David’s wrist and her hair.

Gwen gently fiddled with the watch latch and unhooked it, pulling it off David’s wrist and letting her hair free, earning a smile from the man. Reaching for David’s hans again, Gwen turned it palm up, wrapped his watch back around his wrist and buckled it, her fingers lingering on David’s forearm. The tall man was looking down at his friend, studying ever aspect of her face. Her smooth dark skin, button nose, dark mahogany eyes. David was the kind of person that believed everyone was beautiful in their own way, but when he looked at Gwen, he believed she truly was gorgeous.

He could feel his heart beat quickening and the heat rising in the back of his neck. Gwen looked up at him, her dark eyelashes fluttered and gazed at David fondly and smiled, Her hand still on David’s arm. Her finger tips burned into his skin like salt on ice and the soft hairs on his arms stood up on end, like he was naked in freezing temperatures. She was truly beautiful. The man stood dumbly star struck for a moment, before leaning forward and smashing his lips into Gwen’s, hard. Gwen’s eyes widened in shock, unsure of what to do for a moment, but melted into the kiss.

Their lips moved together, soft and subtle. Gwen kissed his chapped lips, almost with desperation, a faint taste of peppermint off of them. David felt himself pull closer to Gwen, pushing her against the doorframe gently, as if he could somehow become come closer to her the more he grabbed onto her. He could feel his cheeks burning as he ran his fingers into her hair and grabbed her by the waist. Gwen ran her fingers into David’s ginger locks and her other delicate hand rested on his shoulder. She could feel his heart beating faster when she traced her hand slowly up to cap his neck, thrumming against her palm. Was this really happening? Was she just dreaming?

Then David pulled away.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me! I’m so sorry Gwen.” The tall man flustered, his whole face turned a dark shade of red.

“Whoa, David calm down! What are you talking about?” Gwen hurried, grabbing the mans arms, David’s brows furrowed together.

  
“ I’m sorry. I don’t want to take advantage of you! And that’s why I stopped the other night. I...I really like you...and I understand if you don’t like me because I’d rather never do that again than lose you as a friend. I’m so sorry!” The tall man stuttered. Gwen stared at him for a moment, trying to make sense of what he just said.

So he didn’t reject her. He just felt that, with her being drunk and all, that he was taking advantage of her. And he guessed this was the same situation. He was so respectful of Gwen that he didn’t want to do something wrong and risk their friendship.

Without another word, Gwen leaned forward, pulling David down by the neck, letting their lips smash together. She kissed him hard, with desperation, hoping he’d get the message. But David pulled back again. “So is this okay?” David spoke carefully, gesturing between himself and Gwen. Gwen smiled to the man before replying.

“Yes David. This is okay.”

David blushed slightly and grinned, letting out a quiet “Yay” before Gwen pulled his face back down to kiss her again. Their kissing got more and more erractic and chaste. David leaned his hips into Gwen’s, closing the space between them. Her body was sandwiched between the doorframe and David and she could honestly say she’d never felt butterflies in her stomach like the ones she did in that moment. Gwen grabbed more at David’s hair, wrapping her fingers through it. She broke the kiss to take a breath, but quickly moved to David’s cheek, and then kissed gently down to his neck. Exhaling deeply and shakily, David felt shivers course down his spine, his head felt hazy and full of static. He bit his lip and took a daring move, slipping his hand under Gwen’s sweater, lingering at her stomach for a moment, pausing to get the nod of approval from Gwen and then leading his hand up to her chest. Gwen felt her breath catch and bit down on David’s collarbone, small marks littering his pale skin. The man let out a small gasp unconsciously and bit his lip quickly before he let out any other noises, he could feel Gwen grinning against his neck. David smiled cheekily to himself before he ran his thumb over Gwen’s hardened nipple, her thin lace bra being the only barrier between him and the small lump. Gwen inhaled sharply and gasped. She looked up to David, who’s cheeks were a bright shade of red still. David couldn’t believe what was happening. He didn’t know what came over him, usually he’d be slow with these things, but Gwen just looked so beautiful and she looked so attractive in her blue sweater and pair of tight leggings.

“Is this okay too?” David said eventually. Gwen gave him a playful grin.

“Mhmm.” Gwen nodded, a toothy smile following.

Their lips meeting again, David grabbed Gwen up by the thighs, lifting her up and wrapping her legs around his hips, pinning her against the door frame. Gwen gasped against David’s lips and kissed him harder. Who was this man? This wasn’t the usual always happy David who she’d never imagine was capable of feeling attraction, let alone be this forward. This was a new, secret, side of David she could truthfully say she really liked.

The man held Gwen by the waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. David continued to kiss her, shifting the woman’s weight onto his hips and clumsily moved forward into Gwen’s room. The red haired man kicked the door behind him and let Gwen down gently on the bed. The woman, trying to contain herself from how hot being picked up and carried to her bed was, moved her mouth to David’s neck again and began to bite and nibble at it, making David close his eyes, gasping at the electric shocks running through his body every time Gwen’s teeth grazed his skin. The man ran his hands under Gwen’s sweater again, this time grabbing it by the corners and pulling it up to her under her ribs. Gwen sat up and whipped the sweater over her head, revealing her chest, forgetting her sweater on the floor somewhere. David stared in disbelief at the swollen skin covered in black lace and hesitantly reached forward, as Gwen smirked and grabbed his hand, placing it on her breast, before pulling David forward to kiss him roughly again, biting down on his lower lip. The man shifted forward and rested his pelvis against Gwen’s, the two gasped quietly as their hips met. The man bucked his hips in to hers instinctively, running his thumb over her nipple once more. He moved to her neck, kissing against her dark chocolate skin, eliciting quiet moans from the woman.

“Ahh, D-David.” She breathed. David could feel her voice hanging on every word, Gwen’s body moved against David’s, her legs wrapped around his hips and she went to lace her fingers around the edge of the towel, wrapped loosely around David’s waist.

But the two froze when they heard the front door unlocking.

David jumped back off of Gwen, just grabbing the towel around his waist as it slipped from him. Gwen grabbed her sweater, from where it had been tossed on the floor and yanked it over her head.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” Gwen whispered repeatedly as she leaped up, jumping up and down and waving her hands around.

“Max is home!” David whisper shouted to Gwen in panic. Gwen shushed him and put her hand over the tall man’s mouth, who was gripping the towel around his waist. Apart from not even knowing what was going on themselves, the two adults couldn’t let Max find out something was clearly going on between them. It was bad enough he had gone through so much lately, and those things tended to freak him out. Either that or he’d never let them live it down.

“Gwen? David?” The two heard come from outside in the hallway. The two adults flailed for a few minutes before Gwen whispered.

“Fuck! Okay. Stay here. I’ll go out and distract them, you put on some clothes and then come out when I give the signal” Gwen whisper shouted.

She headed for the door before David replied, “What’s the signal!?”

“Uh...Um... I’ll cough or something!” Gwen exasperated, leaping out the door and slamming it behind her.

“Oh Gwen, you’re home.” Max spoke nonchalantly, popping his head up from the couch in the living room where himself and Nikki were sitting.

“Hi Gwen!” Nikki cried. Mac raised an eyebrow at his foster parent.

“You okay? You look...flustered?”

Gwen straightened her sweater quickly and retied her hair up in a pony tail. “Y-yeah! I was just...doing some yoga!” the woman replied quickly. Max frowned.

“...In a sweater?”

“Yes Max. It’s winter!” Gwen said putting her hands on her hips. Max shrugged and went back to the TV.

“Where’s David, Gwen?” Nikki asked.

“U-uh I don’t know Nikki.” Gwen flustered. “What do you guys want for dinner?” she added. “Dunno.” The teen’s replied in unison. Gwen jumped over to them and shuffled them both into the kitchen with a “Okay let’s go see what there is!” the three shuffled into the kitchen to Max’s dismay.

“There’s chicken.” Max said opening the fridge.

“Yeah sounds good *COUGHCOUGHCOUGH*”

“You okay?”

“Yeah *COUGHCOUGH*”

“..Do you want water?”

“No I’m fine *COUGHCOUGHCOUGH*” Gwen replied, hacking loudly tilting her head out of the kitchen. The sound of the front door closing emitted from down the hallway and then footsteps.

“Hi gang!” David cheered, appearing behind Gwen in the door way of the kitchen, fully clothed.

“Oh David’s home! Hi David!” Gwen cheered. Max frowned at the two foster parents.

“You guys are being weird, what’s going on?”

“Nothing at all Max, just came home from a walk to my lovely family!” David grinned cheerily. Max squinted at the tall man. Clearly David was flustered, what with his clumsily thrown on clothes and trying to manipulate his way into the hallway without being seen, but he also was still painted splotched bright red from his recent escapades.

“...Your hair’s wet?”

“...It rained while I was out.” David tried. Max looked past the man, out the window of the living room, showing no rain and the sun shining. Max stared with one eyebrow raised at the two for a minute, before huffing and mumbling.

“Whatever. C’mon Nikki.” The teen said passing the two adults in the doorway, Nikki following on his heels.

When David and Gwen heard Max’s bedroom door shut, they finally relaxed, laughing and sighing at the panic they just endured. “That took ten years off my life.” Gwen admitted, making David laugh. The too smiled awkwardly at each other. Gwen pecked David’s lips before heading over to the fridge and opening it up.

“So chicken for dinner?” She grinned.

 

_____________________________

 

  
“Fuck’s sake.” Max grumbled quietly, tossing over to his left side in bed. He grabbed his iPod off the cabinet beside his bed and unlocked it. 1:50 am read the time. Max frowned and dropped his iPod on his chest, rubbing his face roughly.

The past week, Max could hardly sleep a wink. He’d go to bed every night and mostly lay awake just thinking.

About Neil.

And how he missed him.

It sucked not speaking to Neil. Max found he was just bored most of the week since Nikki had sports practice pretty much every day, which meant Max had to sit at home with Gwen. That was okay because Gwen would leave Max alone mostly, let him do his own thing. The issue was when David came home at four in the afternoon everyday, and would try to do activities with Max, thinking he was “helping”.

And it’s not like he could text anyone either, neither of the teenagers had texted since the afternoon before Max stormed out of Neil’s house. So it’s not like Max could make fun of David with anyone either because Gwen would tell him to stop. Ever since she moved in, she’s been way more touchy about David. And it’s not like he could play video games either, since he didn’t have a PlayStation, and played with Neil’s. So Max just had to sit in his room and listen to music or draw some dumb doodles.

But apart from all that Max just missed his best friend. He missed chilling out with Neil, and eating pizza, and bitching about people in each of their schools, and watching creepy sci-fi movies, and laughing till they cried, and talking about real stuff, like what they wanted to do with their lives. The past week, Max felt so lonely and probably the worst he’d felt since going to live with David and Gwen. And he hated it. He wanted his best friend back.

The teenager whipped back his comforter and got up. He ripped his pyjama shirt over his head, grabbing a shirt off his floor, giving it a quick smell test before pulling it over his curly mop of hair. He grabbed a pair of his black jeans off the end of his bed and yanked them up over the dark blue boxer briefs he was wearing. Max put on socks and pulled his vans on as fast as he could, not bothering to lace them up. Grabbing his coat and his backpack, he quickly scribbled down a note on a piece of paper from a construction pad that read: “Gone to Neil’s, be back later” and placed it on the pillow on his bed.

The teen made his way down the hallway and as quietly as he could, tiptoeing past a snoring David on the couch, opened the front door and pulled it over behind him. Max made his way down the apartment block stairs, stopping when he noticed a dark object on the stairs. A skateboard that one of the kids in his neighbouring apartments must have left out overnight. Giving a quick check to see the coast was clear, Max picked it up, tucking it under his arm. That would get him to Neil’s house faster.

The teenager lean down the stairs of the building and out on to the main road, jumping onto the skateboard and pushing himself off the tarmac as hard as he could, skating down the empty street, disappearing from the shine of the street lights.

 

_____________________________

 

TICK

TICK

TICK

Neil sat up with a start. The teen rubbed his eyed and groaned, glaring at the clock beside him reading 2:25am.

TICK

“What the fuck?” Neil whispered, turning his attention to the window a few feet away from his bed. After a moment, a tiny pebble hit the window, making a TICK sound as it hit the glass. Neil jumped up and grabbed a T-shirt from the end of his bed and yanked it over his afro of dark blonde curls. He quickly padded over to the window and unlatched it, sticking his bed head out to see who was throwing stones at his window.

All that could be seen was a bleary figure, so Neil ducked his head in the window again, banging the back of his skull off of the frame. Letting out a strangled whimper, he rubbed the back of his head. The teen grabbed his glasses off his bed stand and shoved them onto his face before sticking his head out of the window again.

Standing in the yard, glazed in the moonlight, was Max, looking more than a bit haggard. His eyes looked sunken in and his curly dark hair was sticking up in different angles. He looked like he was shivering, since his arms were clutched around his body and his parka zipped up. A skateboard with a Chinese dragon design on the back of it lay forgotten next to the teenager.

“Max? What are you doing here at this time?” Neil croaked at his friend.

“I...was in the area, thought I would drop by...” Max tried to play it off cool but was failing horribly what with the fact it was probably nearing three in the morning and he was panting from how fast he had skated to Neil’s house. Neil threw Max a sarcastic look in response.

“Okay. Look. This past week has sucked and this is stupid. I wanna go back to before...” Max eventually admitted, glaring down at his sneakers, damp from the morning dew that had formed on the grass of Neil’s lawn.

“...so I’m sorry...I yelled at you or whatever...” The teen added.

Neil was taken aback first by the fact Max apologized for what happened but also by how Max had actually gone out of his way to apologize. Max never apologized, at least not genuinely. Neil held up his index finger to Max, gesturing that the teen wait a minute, before he ducked his head in the window again. Neil grabbed a pair of black sweatpants out of his wardrobe and slung them on, pulling open his bedroom door and running down the stairs as quickly and quietly as he could. The teenager unlocked the back door leading into the yard and saw Max still staring up at Neil’s bedroom window.

“Max!” Neil whispered, waving the teenager inside. Max grabbed the board beside him and ran into Neil’s house.

“Thanks man, I was freezing my nads off out there.” Max whispered once Neil shut the door behind him.

Neil, without hesitation, grabbed Max around the shoulders and hugged him. Max was taken aback and staggered a bit, trying to catch his balance. “What the hell?” Max let out, eventually patting Neil gently on the back.

“I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you for that shit. It was your business.” Neil whispered, hiding in Max’s long curly hair.

“It’s okay man. It was stupid.”

Neil let go of Max, standing back and smiling at his friend. The two giggled a bit unsure what to do next since it was around three in the morning on a Sunday and neither had planned their quick meeting. Neil eventually took hold of Max’s sleeve and pulled him out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Max followed his friend upstairs into his room. Neil opened up the top cupboard of his wardrobe and pulled down a comforter and a sleeping bag. The taller boy laid them out on the floor next to his bed.

“What are you doing?” Max piped up, shrugging his coat off.

“It’s 3:30, you might as well just stay here.”

“...oh...okay.”

Max was surprised with how forward Neil was. Usually, if Neil was pissed off, he wouldn’t speak to Max for awhile and even after the teen apologized , Neil would still be moody and pouty afterwards. But Max was in position to argue right now.

Neil pulled one of the pillows off his bed and put it next to the sleeping bag for Max. Neil then moved towards the door.

“I’m gonna make you some coffee, you’re probably freezing.” Neil smiled sheepishly. Max grinned.

“A little bit yeah.” The teen replied. Neil closed the door behind him, leaving Max alone in the room. The boy pulled his hoodie over his head and threw it next to his backpack and coat in the corner of Neil’s room. Unzipping his jeans, Max pulled them off his skinny, tanned legs covered in dark hair. He threw them in the corner and got into the sleeping bag, zipping it up and pulling the comforter over him. Soon enough Neil returned, holding two mugs and kicking the door closed after himself. He handed Max one of the mugs, containing thick black liquid. The other, Neil took a sip from.

“Ah you know me well Neil.” Max grinned, holding the coffee in both hands to warm him up. As Max’s thin arms held the mug up to his mouth, Neil caught sight of the welts surrounding forearms and grimaced for a second, the dark skinned boy catching Neil’s eye.

“...I know they look kinda gross and shit...I was gonna get some tattoos to cover them up eventually. Like big sleeves.” Max eventually piped up, gesturing down his forearms. Neil relaxed a bit and smiled at Max.

“It’s okay, they aren’t gross. You can’t really see them unless you look close.” Neil replied, taking a sip of his tea. Max rolled his eyes.

“I appreciate you trying to be nice about them, but you can definitely fucking see them.” Max quipped, smirking. Neil giggled in response before replying.

“Okay fine, you can see them, but they’re not gross.” Neil defended.

“...They’re apart of you after all.” The boy added under his breath. Max visibly shivered a few seconds later.

“You okay?” Neil asked.

“Yeah, the floors just cold.” Max muttered. Neil hesitated before replying.

“...Do you want sleep in my bed with me?” He asked cautiously.

“Because you’re cold!” He hurried afterward. Max paused, then nodded and unzipped the sleeping bag, quickly jumping into the bed next to Neil. Neil scooted over in the bed to leave room for his friend.

“Fuck, you’re boney.” Max winced from being elbowed in the side after jumping into the bed.

“That’s rich, you’re just as skinny as me!”

“Shut up Neil...And move over, moron!” Max replied, shoving Neil in the thigh with his knee. Neil yelped before turning away from Max, the two inadvertently spooning. Max wasn’t sure how to react to this, and instead of making some sarcastic remark as he usually would, he kept his mouth shut and tried his best to distract himself from how close to Neil he was.

Max stared at the back of Neil’s head, unconsciously admiring the teen’s curls. Tiny cut curls stuck out from the back of Neil’s neck, just above his T-shirt collar, small red bumps were scattered against the back of his neck. His shoulders broad and strong, not like Max remembered them being. Neil’s limbs were too awkward and long to be the little spoon in this situation, causing Max’s knees to be curled up into Neil’s back, but the two didn’t dare move. After about half an hour, Max could hear Neil’s breathing steady and quiet snoring. Laying back on his pillow.

Max closed his eyes and drifted asleep, finally feeling at peace for the first time in a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you thought? I hope the scene with David and Gwen wasn't too bad, its been awhile since I've written that kinda stuff BUT I'm hoping with more practice Hahah...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: The Less I Know The Better - Tame Impala
> 
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> 
> Enjoy my loves! X

Max woke up, hazily to the feeling of being jabbed in the cheek. Stickily opening his eyes, His blurry vision displayed a distorted image of a certain turquoise haired girl who was viciously poking the teenager in the face. Max groaned inwardly, feeling more tired than he had the few hours previous.

“Nikki. Fuck. Off.” Max groaned into his pillow, earning a maniacal laugh from his friend.

“Wake up buttercup!” Nikki cried, ruffling the nest of dark curls attached to Max’s head. Max growled deeper, lifting his head to shoot Nikki a seething look. The teenager felt beside him in the bed with his hand, recognizing a strange space beside missing an extra person. He sat up, realizing Neil’s absence.

“Where’s Neil?” Max croaked at the girl, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor and feeding Kevin the caterpillar leaves from her palm.

“He’s downstairs making  _you_ breakfast.” Nikki replied, uninterested in the conversation and more bothered about feeding her new pet. Max sighed and lazily rubbed a hand over his face, trying to push his curls out of his face, only getting frustrated when his hand got tangled in them.

“Fuck’s sake..” Max muttered, wincing as he pulled his hand out of the curls. Nikki noticed, pulling something off her wrist and climbing into the bed behind Max. He watched in confusion as his friend ran her hands up the back of his head and pulled all this hair together, tying it up in a small bun on his head. Nikki sat back to admire her work.

“Hmm, doesn’t look bad, Max.” She grinned. Max scowled at her, then just sighed and dismissed it. Better than his hair being annoying and in his eyes all the time. Nikki grinned before leaving the room and walked down the stairs. Max sighed heavily and rubbed his face again, getting up and pulling on his jeans and hoodie, eventually leaving the room and exhaustingly moping downstairs into the kitchen.

On the kitchen table, lay a glass of orange juice, a cup of steaming black coffee, a croissant and a plate of pancakes with bacon on the side. Max looked to Neil, who was cradling a cup of coffee himself and leaning against the kitchen counter, still dressed in his T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. Max smiled inwardly, at the gesture. No one ever went to a huge effort to make him breakfast. Sure Gwen made him toast in the morning, but not on this level. Max wasn’t a great eater in the morning, contrary to David’s saying “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, but glancing at the clock it was closer to lunch than breakfast at that point. Max took a seat and muttered thanks to Neil, unsure of how to react to the gesture. The tall teenager smiled warmly in response. Noticing the bun in Max’s hair, he raised an eyebrow, grinning before deciding to ignore it and taking a seat next to him at the table. Nikki soon ran in a few minutes later, clutching Kevin and jumped into a seat opposite.

“So! I have a plan for the den!” Nikki grinned to the two boys. Neil threw her a confused look.

“Oh! I forgot you weren’t there! Basically, Max and me found-“

“I found it. “ Max interrupted her, scowling.

“Fine. Max found a cool shed thing in the woods and it’s got a basement and everything and it’s awesome! So we're gonna make it into a den!” the girl’s eyes lit up as she talked about her plans to turn the old worn out shed, into, what she made out to be, the most sleek and savvy den you had ever seen.

“- It could have a trampoline instead of floorboards and maybe we can fit a slide into the basement and – “

“Nikki we can't do all that.” Max sighed, pushing the bacon around his plate with the fork. He felt like it wasn’t safe to lift his head up, in case he caught Neil’s eye, and some kind of self-conscious urge made him want to whip the hair tie out of his hair so he could hide his eyes beneath his curls again.

“...yeah I guess you’re right. But we could still make it really cool, and it’d be a fun place to hang out.” Nikki spoke, nicking one of the neglected pieces of bacon off of Max’s plate.

“I guess if we hang out there, means Dad won’t keep walking in when were hanging out and start talking about all that philosophy bullshit.” The pale boy next to Max mumbled, blushing slightly at his second hand embarrassment for his father. Max diverted his eyes over at his friend noticing the red in his cheeks. Neil always blushed so much, like when people he wasn’t used to talked to him or someone mentioned something mildly embarrassing, or if he was laughing too much. Max guessed it was because he was so pale, mentally thanking whatever ancestors of his responsible for his dark complexion that he knew didn’t show up red as easily.

Nikki on the other hand was ruthless, so she never blushed.

“Suppose it means less of David around so I’m always up for that.” Max added.

“So it’s settled. We’re going to rebuild the den!”

  
_____________________________________________________

 

“I thought it was a treehouse or something. Not some old tiny shed.” Neil muttered sarcastically.

The three stood in a row outside of the shed, in all its dingy glory, hesitating before Max clicked in the code for the padlock and popped the door open. Nikki reassured her step brother that it was much like the Tardis and actually was bigger on the inside. Stepping in, Max flicked on the light and coughed a bit at the dust, wafting away cobwebs with the sleeve of his coat. Nikki was practically jumping off the walls with excitement, buzzing with anticipation like some sort of enthusiastic wasp. Neil on the other hand, didn’t seem too impressed.

“This is literally, just an old shed.” The teen muttered, staring in disgust at the grime on the walls.

“What!? No it’s not! Neil this isn’t just an old shed! This is potential! This is motivation! This is invigoration! It’s-“

“It's  _just_ an old shed.” Max replied sarcastically, raising an eyebrow to the girl.

“But. If we bring some of our shit down here, make it more homey, then it’ll be our shed.” He continued, propping his newly acquired skateboard against the wall and setting his bag down on the old wooden table, unzipping it open. Neil laughed when Nikki’s face dropped momentarily, before gaining back her happy-go-lucky attitude. Max pulled some old cloths out of his bag and some sponges, along with two bottles of cleaning spray.

“Only way to get it back to a habitable state is to clean it, so...”

Nikki and Neil stared at their dark curly haired friend in disbelief. Max was not one for cleaning and he definitely wasn't one for even suggesting it. Clearly this den was something he was pretty invested in.

“What?” Max frowned at the two staring at him in disbelief.

“Nothing.” Neil dismissed.

“Where does all that stuff in his bag come from? It's like he pulls it out of thin air.” Holding up a hand to the side of her lips, Nikki dramatically stage whispered to the taller boy beside her. Neil rolled his eyes and picked up a bottle of cleaner and a sponge.  
The three got to scrubbing away the dirt and grime from the old cabin, wiping away the green moss ridden mud from the windows and dusting away the cobwebs and fluff. It came to a point that Max had pulled his iPod out from his backpack and was playing music aloud, some kind of rap music, while the three of them got into a pattern. It wasn't long before they were shrugging off their winter coats and wiping their foreheads of sweat. Nikki had placed her caterpillar into the front pocket of her raggy overalls and rolled up the sleeves of her long-sleeved blue top, her turquoise coloured hair tied up in a ponytail. Max was concentrated on scrubbing at a spot on the floorboards, his worn hoodie sleeves rolled up and a triangle of sweat forming between his shoulder blades, he was trying to blow a curl of hair that came loose from his bun, out of his face. Neil was puffing and panting, wafting the collar of his t-shirt against his chest to attempt to cool himself down.

Eventually Nikki stood up and threw her sponge onto the wooden floor, stretching her arms and sighing loudly.

“Can we stop now? I'm bored.” the short girl complained loudly. Neil and Max sat up on their knees from the floor, abandoning their cleaning supplies and admiring their work.

The room was by all means an improvement from before. The once dust covered floor was almost shining and you could actually see outside of the windows. The shelves weren't coated in dirt and all the old tins on top of the shelves (which were empty) were placed back in their original place. Max had pulled open the secret hidey hole again and, to the teen's dismay, Nikki made him chuck out all the old porn magazines inside. She lit the old candles though, placing them on either end of the bottom shelf and the third one in the middle. After receiving weird looks from Max and Neil, Nikki replied,

“Woman's touch.” to which the two boys gave each other a skeptical look, as if to sarcastically say ‘Yeah. Okay.’

“I'd say we can start bringing some stuff down here now. David's probably got tonnes of old camping shit he doesn't use anymore that we can have.” Max spoke up, taking a seat down in the old stool that was in the cabin, while Neil and Nikki sat down on the table.

“There's probably old stuff in our garage that we can use.”

“Okay. We should make a list. Like, we should probably have more seats.” Max replied, gesturing to the two sitting on the table, who nodded in agreement.

“And maybe if we find old sheets, we can hang them over the windows as curtains? And maybe bring down a crate to keep snacks in or something.” Nikki beamed

“ And If I can figure out where the connections for that light are, I can probably install some plug sockets and hook up a tv and everything.” Elaborated Neil, who pointed up at the light bulb attached to the ceiling above them. Max grinned toothily to his friend.

“Neil, my man, you're speaking my language.”

“I can't wait till we finish this guys. It's going to be the best den ever!!” Nikki squealed.

Max’s expression changed suddenly, as if quizzical. The boy grabbed his backpack and dragged it closer to him, unzipping it and rooting through it. He threw out things such as more sponges, a sketchbook, a bottle of water, bungee cords, wire cutters and a pair of pliers. Finally, Max pulled out his penknife, flicking it open. Neil jumped in his seat, staring cautiously at his dark haired friend.

“Relax, we're not making a blood pact or something.” Max sighed. The teen stood up and shoved the stool with his sneaker clad foot, over in front of the door of the cabin. Intrigued at what their friend was doing, the step siblings both stood up to get a closer look. Max climbed up onto the stool, standing a bit below the top of the door frame. In the space between the door and the roof, Max stabbed his penknife into the worn wood and started to carve out scrawls. After a few seconds he jumped down off the stool, flipping the knife round and holding the handle end out to Neil, looking at him hopefully.

Neil read the words, before catching on and taking hold of the penknife and carving his own name next to Max’s. He, however, was tall enough and didn't need to stand on the stool to reach the spot above the door. Scratching his name in a neater font than Max’s, Neil stood back to admire his work and handed the penknife to Nikki. The small girl excitedly jumped up on the stool, standing on her tiptoes to reach. Copying the boys, she jumped down and all three stood back to see the message.

“Camp Gang 2017: Max Neil Nikki” the scratches read in the dark wood.

“Great!” Nikki clapped happily to herself.

“Now it really is our den.” Neil spoke softly, smiling radiantly at Max.

“Yeah...It is.”

___________________________________________

  
The afternoon had been quiet and empty.

Max was out and David was at work, so Gwen had pretty much been doing what she does best, which happened to be doing nothing. She'd woken up late, sometime around 11, way after David had left to run some errands, and upon finding a note on the kitchen counter, reiterating that David had previously found another note on Max’s bed that morning, she knew Max had gone to Neil's. The foster parent had sent the teenager a text soon after, just to make sure he was okay, for her peace of mind.

After lazily slumping into the kitchen and grazing on various things such as crisps, a banana and some left over curry from the night before, she shuffled into the living room and flicked on the TV, curling up in the fluffy throw blanket that lay over the back of the couch. Brainlessly, she flicked through the channels, uninterested in all of them.

She was trying all she could to distract herself from the niggling worm of a thought, that pricked at the back of her head. Maybe if she hadn't stayed up thinking, she wouldn't be so tired and therefore wouldn't have the thought invading her mind as easily. But then, on the other hand, that's what was keeping her up all night to begin with. Why was it so difficult for her? Why was it she couldn't be like a normal human and have the ability to not overthink things? To have a normal understanding of things and just accept things for how they are? Why couldn't she be more of a chilled out, relaxed person who just went with the flow?

But then she never was like that. Not as a child when she was so cautious of everything, refusing to climb trees in case she fell. Being scared of making friends in school. How about as a teenager, when she didn't sneak out with her friend Macy to go down to the park with some boys from her year, in fear of getting into trouble. Or the first, second, third time she attempted to lose her virginity, getting to her clothes and her bra off, sitting in her underwear before panicking, shouting out “Stop. I change my mind!” leading eventually to the then boyfriend getting tired of it and breaking up with her. In college, when she one day, after a few too many cocktails with a classmate at the local bar, decided “Fuck it. I'm young” And started sleeping around, drinking too much and forgetting to turn in assignments, nearly flunking out of college and receiving many upset phone calls from her parents. She wasn't like that then either though, bc in the back of her mind she was only doing that to trick herself into thinking she didn't give a fuck, pretending to herself that she wasn't a failure in, of all degrees, a major in liberal arts. Faking it and acting as if she was drop dead gorgeous when in reality she had liquid confidence to boost her, along with various low cut tops and glittery eye makeup. Ignoring that on nights when she wasn't out doing god knows what with god knows who, she'd sit alone in her dorm, drinking by herself, trying to forget the thoughts pounding in her skull, trying to drown out her anxieties with a bottle of vodka.

Her anxieties kept her awake at night, worrying.

But then she was selfish too. Not worrying for others. Worrying about herself.

Worrying she was never enough, and that she wouldn't ever amount to anything. Knowing her parents would never fully believe in her, even when they said they did, knowing they didn't truly think she'd grow up, the youngest of five, never to actually cop on and do things right. Worrying that she never made her dad proud of her while he was alive. Worrying that her mom secretly looked down on everything she did, in a very passive way. Maybe that was why she hadn't yet told her mom about her situation with David and Max yet. After nearly three months, she hadn't managed to tell her, and at their monthly lunches, they had at an old garden centre café, she wanted to bring it up every time, but backed down, in fear of her mother's reaction.

And then maybe that's why she was reluctant to properly get to know David at first. He was always so damn positive about everything. He saw good and purity in everything, even her fucked up self. And even though she hated Camp Campbell with all her guts, she couldn't help but feel almost giddy going to back to that worn down shithole, knowing she'd be greeted by a goofy smile and rib crushing hug, from the stupid ginger idiot of a co-worker, who, for three months of the year, made her feel like she wasn't useless and dense, like she had potential and that she was capable of doing anything she wanted to do. He made her feel like she could reach up and touch the stars if she tried hard enough, and because of that she wanted to try. She felt her anxieties and nagging thoughts seep away when she was around him. His toothy grin gave her confidence to smile , his bubbly and infectious laugh had her on a high for hours, his warm and pale skin had her feeling safe and inviting to affection.

But then that's why she worried she couldn't have him. He was perfect, kind and mannered, helpful, with a good head on his shoulders, the kind of guy you could take home to your mother but also, after the previous day’s events, the kind of guy who could probably rattle a headboard like a sailor on leave. He was smart, gentle and passionate. He was on another level as a person than Gwen. He could be on a god tier kind of level as a person compared to Gwen.

That's why, after the day before, she was overthinking the situation. She'd spent all this time fantasizing about David and imaging romantic and erotic scenarios between the two, everyday catching tiny things like how he laughed, how he smelled, every freckle she could catch sight of, every inch of skin she could sneak a peek at whenever the man stretched or pulled off his sweater. She had been too busy thinking about how perfect David was, she forgot how imperfect she was, and in turn forgot how he was too good for her. How he deserved better. How he was _worth_ more.

Gwen was pulled sharply out of her thoughts, from the sound of her phone buzzing against the coffee table. She stared at it for a minute before picking it up.

  
From: David          2:37pm

Hope your having a nice day Gwen! Picked up some ingredients so we'll be having stir fry tonight! See you later CBFL!

  
Gwen smiled weakly at her phone screen.

Of course he remembered stir fry was her favourite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.   .   .

Edit: Just gonna leave the moodboards down here again, don't mind me....

[Max](https://pin.it/jf4dgkaforcece)

[David ](https://pin.it/vvbj466wcrggau)

[Gwen](https://pin.it/d2bicvcd4m2taw)

[Nikki](https://pin.it/nmyktuooendtto)

[Neil](https://pin.it/odjt24dousn5sw)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to do a Christmas chapter for this fic but I didn't get time to do one before Christmas actually happened. Oops.
> 
> Anyway I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! X


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song : Kids Again - Artist Vs Poet
> 
>  
> 
> * Gwenvid nsfw *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm so sorry I just hadn't gotten round to doing this fic in so long I've been so busy the past few months but I finally finished this chapter! Let me know what you think guys! Xx

“Hey look, there's a Summer farmer's market this weekend.”

“Oh, really?” Gwen looked over David's shoulder at the newspaper he was reading. A grainy coloured advertisement was splashed across the fourth page of the newspaper, reading “Big Farmer's market! Food markets, Gift stalls, Summer activities! This weekend”

“Maybe we should go, it might be fun!” Gwen had been pretty busy with her new job the past few weeks and David was working more hours in the book shop so the three hadn't spent that much time together lately.

A voice growled from beside David. “No. Absolutely fucking not.” Max was sitting across the table with a face that could sour milk. Gwen frowned at the teenager.

“Max? Why do you hate everything even slightly fun?” Gwen grumbled, pulling a black blazer over her shoulders.

“I don't just hate fun things, I hate a majority of things.” Max retorted before shovelling a big spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth. Gwen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her feet were hurting, she wasn't used to wearing heels everyday since she only ever wore hiking boots at camp. She also wasn't used to having to wear blouses and pencil skirts all the time.

“Ah c’mon Max, you might enjoy it.” David reasoned.

Max put down the flower printed bowl he was slurping milk from, scowled at David and replied.

“No David. I won't fucking like it.” David's eyebrows furled together, before he added.

“You can bring Neil and Nikki with you.”

“....Fine. I'll go. But it's still gonna suck.”

“Great!” David exclaimed, Max grumbled into his mug of coffee, ignoring the two adults.

David beamed at his victory, turning to give Gwen a big grin. Gwen weakly smiles back to the ginger male. Turning away, Gwen threw back the rest of her coffee and placed her cup on the counter by the sink. The woman picked up her handbag by the door and straightening up and facing David and Max, slapping a smile across her face.

“Right well I'm off now. Bye you two.” Gwen faked a cheery voice, clicking down the hallway in her heels, towards the door.

“Gwen wait!” David jumped up and moved towards the woman, grabbing her gently by the elbow. Gwen tensed up at contact.

“What are you doing later?” David asked, holding onto Gwen’s forearm as she turned around.

“Nothing, why?” Gwen smiled, plastic and wide.

“Well, I was wondering if you'd like to...go somewhere...with me?” David’s cheeks glowed pink and the man rubbed at the back of his neck. Gwen could feel her own face heat up as well.

 

“Go where?”

 

“I don't know, just somewhere…”

 

“...Like a date?”

 

“Uh...Yeah, Would that be okay?” David's eyes were wide with hope, a nervous tone in his voice. For a second Gwen felt her heart flutter.

 

**_‘No. Remember why you can't have him.’_ **

 

“...Oh! Sorry David I can't! Gareth needs me to stay late at the office to...sort out some files.”

 

“Oh! No that's perfectly fine! How about tomorrow night?” David smiled warmly at Gwen, which just made her chest hurt and her breath come short.

 

**_‘He's too good for you.’_ **

 

“Uh, I have to stay late all week...a big case is coming up.” Gwen could feel her palms getting clammy and she was roasting to death in her blazer now.

 

“Ah okay, Next week then?” David casually spoke, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. The tall red head produced a lunch box from behind his back, filled with last night's leftovers. He handed it To Gwen.  “For lunch.” David added, placing a hand on either side of Gwen and squeezing her shoulders.

 

Why was he so goddamn persistent.

**_‘He deserves someone better than You.’_ **

 

“David. I'm can't at the moment, I'm just getting used to my new job and work is getting busier and busier. I haven't got time, okay?” Gwen felt bad for snapping at David but she knew it was the only way he'd back off. David looked like a puppy who had been kicked, he shrunk back into himself. A pain was banging at the front of Gwen’s head.

 

“Oh okay. Nevermind then. Sorry.” The male spoke quietly, avoiding Gwen’s eye. Gwen felt sick.

 

“...I've to go. I'll see you later. “ Gwen turned to open the front door.

 

“Have a lovely day.” David said softly before returning to the kitchen.

 

Gwen could feel her eyes pricking at her and her headache was only getting louder. She stepped out of the house and slammed the door behind her in anger.

 

**_‘Way to go, you’ve upset him.’_ **

 

**_‘You couldn't even let him down easy.’_ **

 

**_‘Nice job, Gwen’_ **

 

Gwen got about five minutes away from the apartment, down the road from the block, before she felt a sour taste fill her mouth, bending over just as she threw up into a bush next to the sidewalk. She heaved and coughed up her insides, tears streaming down her face, blinded by the pain behind her eyes. Two middle schoolers across the road giggled at her as they walked by but Gwen didn't have the energy to turn around and hurl abuse at them. She wobbled down beside the bush, sitting down on the sidewalk, trying to catch her breath. Yanking her blazer off. She scratched at her itchy, warm neck. It was strangling her. She pulled the scrunchie out of her hair to stop it pulling at her head. Her head was pounding and she laced her fingers into her brown locks. She pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her forehead against them.

“Shit.”

 

_______________________________________________

 

Max slammed down an old heavy duffle bag down on the kitchen floor of Neil and Nikki’s house.

“Shit, that was heavy, I carried that all the way from my house.” Max gasped, straightening up and cracking his back. Nikki unzipped the bag, revealing a mass of David's camping gear, such as fleece blankets, a camping stove, a blow-up mattress and other various supplies.

“Jesus.” Neil muttered, staring down at the bag.

“I can't believe you assholes are going down to the den without me.” Nikki huffed, taking a bite out of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“It’s not our fault you have baseball practice today.” Max muttered, trying to pull the sides of the duffle bag together to zip it up again. Nikki pouted and chomped another bite out of her sandwich.

Over the past week, the three had slowly been adding more and more to their den. Carrying down objects such as chairs and cushions, along with a crate full of snacks at Nikki's request. Nikki unfortunately was busy with sports clubs during the week, so Neil and Max had been doing the majority of the work.

“I found an old TV in the garage, I can bring down the PlayStation and hook them up in the den.” Neil elaborated while he was unscrewing a detached plug socket.

“Neil, you're America’s sweetheart.” Max grinned.

 

“You guys suck, I can't believe this.”

 

“Then quit a sport or something, Nikki.” Neil muttered, struggling to pull the screw out from the socket.

 

Nikki huffed. “But I love them all equally.”

 

“Welp! that's not our problem!” Neil answered.

 

“Guys stop it. C’mon Neil we gotta go.” declared Max, once he'd finally gotten the duffle bag closed.

Neil nodded and lead the way out of the kitchen through the front door and into the open garage. The teen disappeared inside and returned clutching the handle of a red wagon containing an old box TV and the PlayStation, along with a few other bits and pieces. Laughter bubbled out of Max's mouth when he caught sight of the cherry red wagon.

 

“What the fuck is that?” He giggled.

 

“Shut up, it was Nikki's.” Neil interrupted his friends laughter.

 

“Ah I had some good times with that wagon.” Nikki reminisced.

Max threw the heavy duffle bag on to the wagon and shoved his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.

 

“Ready?”

 

“Yeah, see you later Nikki.”

 

“Yeah whatever.”

 

_____________________________

 

 

After finishing his breakfast, David placed his dishes in the sink and pulled on his dark green wool cardigan. He picked up his old leather satchel and grabbing his car keys from the dish beside the front door. He stepped outside the house and locked up the door, before jogging down the steps of the apartment building and getting into his car, pulling out from the driveway. The male drove about twenty metres down the road before noticing a crumpled lump of human on the sidewalk. David screeched to a halt and jumped out of the driver seat of his old station wagon.

“Hey! Are you okay?” David yelled as he grabbed the person under their arms to help them up. The woman turned around and flashed her familiar eyes at her helper. David's mouth dropped open for a second.

“Gwen? Gwen! Are you okay? What happened!?” His voice filled with worry, David stammered. Gwen’s response was merely a pained groan, before she lost her balance and fell limp in David's arms. The tall male grabbed her tight under her arms, pulling one over his shoulder and holding onto his friend's waist.

“It's okay, I'll get you home to bed.” David whispered into Gwen’s hair, as he supported her, gently carrying her back to his car.

David lay Gwen down in the back seats of the car, pulling off his cardigan and rolling it up, tucking it behind her head. He got into the driver's seat and made a U turn, driving back to the apartment block.

Getting out of the car, David looked up the steps of apartment block. It was three flights of stairs up to their apartment and low rent in a working class area meant no elevator either. The tall man ducked into the back of the station wagon, gripping Gwen gently under her arms again and helping her out of the car. The poorly woman groaned quietly in protest,  hanging her head low.

“C’mon, I've got you. We'll get you inside now in a minute.” David spoke softly.

Taking another look up the flights of stairs and then glancing again at Gwen, David realised she definitely wouldn't be able to get up all those flights. Hesitating for a moment, David wrapped Gwen’s arms around his neck and then, in a swift moment, pulled her up into his arms.

“David...what...what are you doing?” Gwen tried to protest, her voice quaking in sickness. David ignored the woman's complaints and started up the stairs, not long after getting to the apartment.

Upon entering, he lay Gwen down in his bedroom on the bed and took off her shoes.

“Can you get changed?” David asked, pulling off Gwen’s blazer and laying on the white thatch chair next to the bed. Gwen tried to sit up and pull her blouse over her head, but wobbled and groaned again in pain, feeling dizzy and gripping her forehead. David held the small of her back in support.

“Okay, it's okay. You just take it easy.” David whispered softly. The red haired male grabbed a pair of sunflower covered pyjamas of Gwen’s from the wardrobe, setting them down next to her.

“Gwen? I'm going to change your clothes, okay? Is that alright with you?” asked David cautiously. Gwen nodded her head.

David proceeded to pull Gwen’s fluffy blouse over her head, revealing a red lace bra underneath.  David could feel his face flush slightly, quickly pulling the flower speckled top over the woman's chest. Her then unzipped her skirt, pulling the pyjama bottoms up over her. purple cotton underwear. He tucked her into bed, before leaving momentarily to come back with a big thick book and a thermometer. Placing the thermometer under Gwen’s tongue, David began to flick through the big book, the cover reading “John Hopkins family health book.”

The thermometer read 100.4 Fahrenheit when David took a look at it.

“I think you have a fever, Gwen.” David muttered, placing his palm under Gwen’s fringe, on her forehead. She was burning up.

“You'll be okay, You just have to rest and we just have to get some liquids into you. I'll get you some orange juice and some paracetamol.” David smiled at the woman, trying his best to hide his worry. Taking hold of Gwen’s hand, he gave it a reassuring squeeze.

David stood up to head to the kitchen to fetch Gwen’s remedies, stopping once he heard a small voice.

“Thank you David.” Gwen mumbled, peeking out from behind the covers. David smiled warmly.

 

“No problem.”

 

_____________________________________________

 

Neil slung himself back onto a big red beanbag next to Max. The tall boy wiped sweat off his forehead with the palm of his hand, panting for air.

“I thought that would be easier than it was, to be honest.” Neil gasped,  out of breath.

 

“I know, so did I -” Max replied quietly. Max reached over beside Neil and picked up the two game controllers next to his tall friend.

 

“- least you have the PlayStation hooked up now.” Max grinned wide to Neil, who was wiping his wire burned hands on an old cloth.

 

“If I knew I was going to shock myself on all those wires getting those plug sockets in, I would've brought gloves with me.” Neil nervously laughed. Max held up his index finger to Neil, grabbing his backpack next to him and pulling out a cold can of coke and handing it to Neil.

 

“Oh, I don't really like coke, man” Neil said, trying to hand the can back, making Max roll his eyes.

 

“I know dumbass, it's for your burnt fingers.” Max replied, snatching the can from Neil and then grabbing the boys hands, pressing both into the can. Neil smiled softly, looking to Max gratefully.

 

“Thank you dude.” Neil said sweetly. Max could feel his face flush a bit as he let go of Neil's hands, nearly making his tall friend drop the can.

 

“...It's nothing.” Max muttered, picking up his controller and turning back to the TV.

 

“So what do you want to play?” Neil suggested, balancing the can on the tips of his fingers.

 

“Something  I can beat your ass at, so anything.” Max smirked at his friend, Neil rolled his eyes at the statement.

 

“Shut up, anything you win today will just be an unfair match, since right now I'm playing with an injury.” Neil pouted at his curly hair friend. Max stuck his tongue out at the boy.

 

“You're going down, pansy!” Max cackled, scraping all his thick, curly hair back into a bun and grabbing the controller from his lap. Neil picked up his own and hunched over his long, gangly legs.

 

“Bring it on, midget!”

The two teenagers went into a frenzy of button mashing and colourful swearing, trying to beat each other at some kind of violent and gory fighting game. Max’s character won the first, then Neil's won the second. The pressure was on during the third round as both boys sat at the edge of the beanbag, staring straight into the screen and button mashing as fast as their fingers would go. Max got swift kicks in as Neil tried to block, getting in hard punches to the opponent. Their thumbs stabbing violently at the plastic controllers, a look of utter happiness spread over Neil's face, while Max began to scream curse words angrily. Max's player died and in big red words, ‘Fatality’ splashed across the screen. The taller teenager let out a cry of joy and punched the air, while his sore loser of a friend threw down the video game controller and crossed his arms in annoyance.

“Ahah! What was that you said about you beating my ass, Max?” Neil boasted, sticking his chest out and pointing his nose in the air. Max threw Neil a bitter look.

 

“Yeah, whatever. It was clearly some kind of fucking fluke that you won that!” Max seethed.

 

“You're just angry because I won.” Neil teased, only winding Max up further.

 

“You're not even fucking humble, you know that right?” Max muttered angrily to himself, turning away and crossing his arms again.

Neil laughed and went to ruffle the, now loose, bun in Max's hair.

“Ah Max how can I be at such a glorious moment like this? I beat you of all people!”

Max shoved Neil's hand away from his head in anger. “Suck a dick. And give me my coke back.” Max reached to grab the can that was set down next to Neil's leg, though he fumbled in the process and grabbed onto Neil's thigh for support and as he lifted his head, he collided with Neil's forehead.

Both boys yelped in pain and  turned to each other, Max rubbing the back of his head, Neil rubbing his forehead. The two looked at each other for a moment and opened their mouths as if they were going to say something, but stopped. 

 

Neil hadn't ever realized what a deep shade of green Max's eyes were. Deep teal with flecks of dark green, framed by dark thick eyelashes. Tiny freckles speckled Max's nose, contrasting his tanned caramel skin. Max's plush light pink lips, rested from a frown, looking softer than Neil had ever noticed.

Max stared straight into Neil's baby blue eyes, entranced by the teen as he had been for the past few weeks, still unsure as to why his heart melted and his stomach tied in knots when Neil caught him off guard. He almost felt welcoming to the feeling at this point. Max could feel the teen's warm breath against his cheek. If only he leant forward the tiniest bit more, he could touch Neil's peach pink lips with his own.

Neil abruptly sat up, pulling away from Max, his face the colour of a tomato.

“How about another round?” Neil squeaked, plucking his controller from the ground and pulling his knees up to his chest.

Max sighed quietly and picked up his own controller, selecting a character to play.

 

____________________________

 

Gwen groggily tumbled out of bed sometime in the afternoon, after having slept off the slight fever she had, for most of the morning. An itching parched throat forced her to leave her bed to shuffle into the kitchen and get a glass of water.

David was sitting at the round wooden table in the kitchen, occupying himself with a crossword in the paper and sipping chamomile tea from a worn purple peony printed mug. The red head stepped up from his seat when he saw Gwen enter the room.

“Hey! How are you feeling?” David asked, concerned, rushing over and placing the palm of his hand on Gwen’s forehead. Gwen batted his hand away lightly, insisting she was fine.

 

“I just came to get a glass of water. “ the woman croaked out.

 

“Oh good, keeping hydrating!” the tall man cheered. Gwen reached towards the cupboard behind David, to grab a glass, only to be hurried out of the way as David reached forward and pulled open the cupboard.

 

“I'll get that for you!” David exclaimed, smiling goofily at the woman. Gwen raised an eyebrow quizzically at the male but didn't say anything.

David rushed to the sink and filled up the glass, turning to pass the glass to Gwen. Taking the glass from his hand, Gwen nodded in thanks to David. After taking a gulp of her water, She moved to sit down at the table, only to have David rush ahead of her and pull out the chair for her. Gwen sat down, pursing her lips. David then tried to push in the chair, a bit too hastily and made Gwen splash water of the floor when she jolted forward.

 

“David! What are you doing!? Sit the fuck down! Jesus!” Gwen snapped, placing her forehead in her hand.

 

“Sorry! I was just trying to help….I'll sit down.” The red head retreated to the chair across from the woman.

Gwen grumbled to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose and trying to fight back another headache. Concerned, David tilted his head to the side.

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“... You sure?”

 

“I'm fine.”

 

“...You don't look fine.”

Gwen bolted upright and glared at David. “David. I am fine.” She snapped. David frowned in sadness before diverting his attention back to the crossword.

Gwen continued to grumble to herself for a few minutes before standing up abruptly and storming back into David's room. David looked up and stared on at the girl.

David knew that when Gwen wasn't feeling well, she wasn't the best patient. Whenever she was sick at camp and David had to look after her, she would always be short with him. He was used to her snapping at him when she was in a bad mood, but he had an inkling that maybe there was something else going on. Gwen seemed even more on edge than usual and David wanted to make sure she was okay.

Following the woman into the bedroom, David grabbed ahold of Gwen's wrist.

“Gwen? What's up?” David pried, forcing the woman to turn around to face him. Gwen's eyes flashed with fire.

 

“I told you. I'm fine.” Gwen whispered with animosity. David almost recoiled at the tone of her voice, but pushed further. Inhaling deeply, David stared Gwen straight in the eyes.

 

“Gwen. I know something is wrong, so you better tell me now….please.” David spoke sternly.

 

Gwen frowned in disgust at first, but her expression soon dropped, and her face crumbled as the woman burst into tears. David turned from grim to worried, as he pulled the woman forward into his chest into a hug. Gwen howled into David's shirt, her muffled cries strangled.

 

David just held Gwen and petted her hair as she cried.

 

When it seemed like Gwen had calmed down a bit and her erratic breathing had lulled, David felt it was the right time to speak.

 

“So...what's wrong?”

 

Gwen avoided David's eyes, and hesitated before she answered.

 

“...David...I-I’m sorry. I've just been so stressed. I just don't know what I'm doing…” she quaked.

 

“Aw, why didn't you say so? If you felt stressed from work we can always do some yoga! I have some experience from a few years back when we had yoga camp at Camp Campbell. Unfortunately we did have to cancel it due to some issues with the campers but-”

 

“No! I'm not that kind of stressed! I don't need yoga!” Gwen snapped, tears welling up in her eyes again. David cocked his head to the side in concern.

 

“What's stressing you out then Gwen?” David spoke quietly.

 

Gwen's face crumbled again and she balled up her fists, yelling out one word.

 

“You!”

 

“...Me?”

 

“Yes you! This whole time you've been so helpful and supportive and you're so great with Max. I've known you for so many years and I've always found you annoying and then after the past few months you've been so nice and kind and it’s confusing me. “ Gwen shouted, nearly hysterical at this point.

 

“...Why is that confusing you Gwen?” David whispered.

 

“Because I like you! A lot. And I can't. I shouldn't. I can't like you because I can't have you!” Gwen cried, spinning away from David and pulling her wrist away, sitting down on the bed and pulling her knees up to her chest.

 

“I like you too, a lot as well. But I'm not sure what you mean...why can't you have me?”

 

“Because! I can't! “

 

David pursed his lips in concern, slowly following Gwen to the bed, sitting on the opposite end of it. The red head opened his mouth again.

 

“The only reason I can think of you not being able to have me is if I didn't want you to have me...but that's not the case, in fact I very much...want you to have me.” David spoke quietly, his eyes avoiding Gwen and his face tomato red.

 

“You don't get it David. I can't have you because you're too good for me. You need someone who's ambitious and preppy. A girl who's cute and blonde and skinny and has a happy-go-lucky attitude, a girl who is sweet and kind and ever fucking happy like you! - not some girl who's bitter and angry and unhappy with her past, who's sarcastic and swears and gets angry at you...not me.” The young woman sobbed, burying her face in her knees and shaking in sadness.

 

David stared, stunned for a second at what she had just said.

 

How could Gwen think she wasn't good enough for him. He had liked her for as long as he could remember, since the day she first stepped off the bus into Camp Campbell, with a coffee cup in hand and a dreading expression slapped on her face. When she'd yell and swear at the campers when they wouldn't do as they were told. When she convinced David to get of the camp for a few days every summer before he went insane and when she agreed to watch Bob Ross videos with him. She was his best friend and he could easily say he had been in love with her since the day he met her. It killed him to think she didn't think she was worthy of him.

David scooched closer to Gwen and put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him as she shook.

 

“...Gwen...all those things you just said...I don't want a girl like that… I want you. I want you because you're strong and independent. Because you keep me strong when I think I'm going to snap. Because you know how the world works and you're not naive and delusional. Because you are kind and sweet in your own way, without being over the top and annoying. Because you are beautiful and gorgeous, curvy and tall. Because you stayed with me during this journey with Max. You could've left at anytime,  you could've woken up one morning and decided this was too much for you, but you didn't.  You stayed and fought for Max with me. And now Max has two kickass parents who actually care about him and love him. I love you because you're real. You're the most toughest, caring and thoughtful person I've ever met. I don't want anyone else but you.”

 

Gwen looked up at the man, her face painted in awe at what had been said to her.

Without a second hesitation, the woman leapt forward into David's lap, grabbing his face and pressing her lips to his hard. David froze in shock for a second, before reducing into the kiss, reaching forward and holding Gwen by her hips.

 

Gwen pulled back. “ And you're sure you're not going to get fed up of me?”

 

“I will never get fed up of you, and if that means you need reassurance of that every day, then I will remind every single minute of the day how much I love you and why. “ David smiled, kissing Gwen on her lightly freckled nose. Gwen beamed, before pulling David forward to her again.

She softly kissed the man at first, pecking him lightly on his supple lips, kissing harder and harder, more erratically and open mouthed, sliding her tongue against his. She pushed David backwards, continuing the to kiss his neck slowly and smoothly, enticing small moans from deep in his chest.

Gwen could feel her crotch pushed against his, hardness pressed against her heat, building and building the more she kissed his neck. She paused, before biting down on David's collar bone, inviting an erotic “Ahh~” from David. Gwen felt his hips buck against hers.

Before being able to respond, Gwen had been pushed back onto the bed. Her hips met with David's, feeling his hard cock pressed up against her once more, and the collar of her top being pulled to the side to reveal her might, smooth coco skin. David latched onto her neck, biting lightly and sucking hard, while pushing his crotch into Gwen’s with rhythm. Gwen’s small groans grew into loud moans as she grinded back against the male, lacing her fingers into his hair and pulling. David's lips popped from her skin as he moaned out too, shivering from having his hair pulled. He opened his eyes to stare at Gwen, pure lust over taking them. He quickly pulled his jumper over his head, proceeding to whip up Gwen’s top, as she began to quickly fumble with his shirt buttons. Her red lace bra was quickly unlatched with one hand, as she threw David a surprised look, to which he sheepishly shrugged,replying, "15 years of camping gives you skilled hands".

Having his shirt then pulled off of him and thrown on the floor, David proceeded to slowly kiss down Gwen’s collar bones to her breasts. David enveloped one of her nipples, into his mouth, flicking it gently with his tongue. Gwen gasped, arching her back off the bed. She looked down to see David grinning bashfully up at her.

“Don't look at me like that!”

 

“...But you're beautiful like this.”

Gwen blushed and smiled shyly, running her fingers into David's hair as he lowered his mouth to her boobs again, sucking and licking gently.  With every moan and gasp Gwen gave, David could feel heat build in his lower stomach, along with restriction from his trousers. He hoped grinding his pelvis into Gwen’s might relieve some of the restriction, only to have Gwen moan out loud. Before he realised, Gwen was reaching down to unbutton his trousers. David held onto to her arm, sitting back for a moment.

 

“Gwen wait. I just want to check you are 100% okay with this. If you're not it's okay, we can wait. I don't mind, I just don't want to pressure you into anything if you're still feeling-”

 

David. I'm 100% okay with this. Now shut up and fuck me.” Gwen growled low into his ear.

David swallowed visibly, replying “Yes ma’am!” and pulling off Gwen's pyjama bottoms and underwear, all while meeting her unbutton his trousers and pull down his green coloured boxer shorts.

 

And there they were.

 

Naked in front of each other.

 

Had you asked Gwen six months ago, would she be in this situation, staring down at David's pale naked torso, with his particularly well endowed member pressed against her inner thigh, she'd have laughed at the idea, but in that moment she was ecstatic, along with some other lustful emotions.

David leaned over and pulled open the drawer to the bedside table, beside Gwen’s head. He withdrew a box of condoms, selecting one from the box, opening it and rolling it on with ease.

Meanwhile, Gwen stared in awe.

 

“What? Is something wrong?” David asked, catching Gwen’s eye.

“No! Nothing...I just thought that would go a lot less smoothly…” David cocked his head to the side.

“I'm a 28 year old man...I know how to put a condom on…” he joked, smirking slightly at Gwen’s surprise.

 "You cannot expect me to believe you've had enough sex to be able to put a condom on that smoothly!" 

"...Okay maybe I've practiced a few times by myself to make sure I know how to do it...but I do use them for real sometimes!" David admitted

“Okay, whatever you say.” Gwen laughed, tapping David on the arm. The two laughed, and David moved forward and kissed Gwen hard.

“You still sure you want to do this?” he quietly asked, smiling lovingly at the girl below him.

“I'm sure.”

David positioned himself before Gwen, pushing forward into her, she felt warm and soft, inviting him as she scooted her hips forward. The two inhaled sharply, warmth filling there nether regions. Gwen hooked her legs onto David hips, as he pulled out of her slowly and back in again, with a bit more force. The two kissed and gasped as the gained rhythm and pace, inhaling heavier and more erratic.  They could feel each other sweat on them and there scents mingled together, proving gross in any other circumstance but currently, neither one was paying attention to that. Gwen could feel her climax building, with each thrust and quickening pace inside her. She wanted to scream out in pleasure, but afraid of the neighbours hearing her, she instead latched her teeth onto David's neck, biting on his fastened pulse as moans bubbled from his mouth. Without much injunction, Gwen’s felt her climax push off the edge, as her legs clamped around David's hips, she road out the waves of her orgasm, her body spawning around David as she called out his name and moaned into his neck.

A few deep thrusts followed before David followed her, his muscles tensing and one arm wrapping around Gwen’s waist as he thrust out every rippling of his climax, panting and groaning into Gwen’s hair.

David stayed on top of Gwen for a few seconds, panting and trembling, before pulling out of her and lowering himself down beside her. He quickly pulled off the condom and threw it into the bin across from the bed. He lay back down and looked over to Gwen, her face flushed with happiness and contentment. A giggle bubbled out from David's throat as he leaned forward and kissed Gwen, pulling her into his chest as she leant her head against him and he wrapped his arms around her. The two kissed again, cuddling lovingly together in bliss.

 

“David…” Gwen piped up, her tone bubbly and sweet.

 

“Yes Gwen?”

 

“I love you too.”

  
  
  



End file.
